Abranet - 150mm Sanding Discs (non-specific brand) (Rating: 5)

Boys and Girls,

I was abhorred to read that there is at least one person out there in the woodworking community that hasn't even heard of Abranet sanding discs let alone use it.
Well there is a product I haven t heard of abranet I will go look iit up and educate myself.
I shall avoid all temptations of identification to preclude embarrassing the author….

Now don't get Abranet confused with Abralon sanding pads,
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which is foam backed sanding pads/disks.

There are many brands of Abranet on the market (well I know of two) with some better than others… Even Fe$tool have a line of Abranets.

They range from free (if you're a good kleptomaniac) to about $1.50 per sheet (if you are too bleeding lethargic to shop around). While they can cost quite a bit more than "traditional" holey discs, with proper use they will last twice as long (more on proper this later). Originally I used to bulk buy on rolls, cut the circles and punch the holes in them… when adding my labor cost, hole punch(es) and jigs to hold the bulk roll flat, I was on a fools errand.

I use Mirka brand discs. This is primarily because they are readily available at local (Melbourne) wood shows, where I always make a bee line to their stand to stock up. I do tend to stock pile
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I vaguely remember (anything) paying $60 /50 pads which was quite cheaper than the current $76 /50 (... and out of stock to boot).

The beauty of these pads is that there are no holes that need to be aligned to all my variety of sanders
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and the sanding swarf gets captured in the mesh, leaving a clear sanding surface. With careful use they will last at least twice as long as traditional discs and are easily to shakeen, beaten or air blasted for continued use.

I say careful use only because being a "net" it does not have any reinforcement around the perimeter and if you are not too careful you can easily catch an edge which will cause the disc to rip from the circumference inwards.
A couple of discs relegated for manual labor,
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I always suggest that if you tend to relive sharp edges, you chamfer them prior to sanding.
Nevertheless I can use spent disc (intact or torn) in these automotive sanding pads explicitly designed to take the shape of the disc.
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Another benefit of abranet discs, if you use the above mentioned pads, there are no holes that can get caught on an edge/corner when manually sanding,
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I have a swag of old non-abranet discs (without holes) that I consider a single use and then toss them if only to deplete my redundant stock,
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unfortunately because of these, I unintentialy tend to extend the life cycle of some of my ratty abranet discs.

Now if there is anyone out there hard of hearing, I have made a short video with sound that is guaranteed to assist you in embracing your ailment. And those visually challenged, will confirm that you are missing nothing.