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Some Abrasive Observations,

I have in my arsenal all of Festool's sanders and sandpapers, so you could imagine the sandpaper collection support group that stands behind them.
I am very happy with the both the Rubins and Brilliants when using them in their respective tasks.

Last month over at Woodnet, Holbren was running a annual sale on a select groupings of sandpapers.
I noticed some 220 & 180 disks that were Festool compatible for my ETS 150, so I ordered a box of each to test out the waters.

In the meantime I'm finishing up a mahogany dining room table that I'm at the finishing stage of.
As I'm working up the grits to the finer levels I've developed a habit of giving the table a wiping coat of paint thinner with a splash (of the stain color I'll be using)
mixed in that I wipe table down between grits in order to be on the lookout for any sanding marks I might have missed.

After giving it the time to dry I then proceed with the next grit level. So because of the slight color residue within the wood there is a clear
sighting of what is being sanded and at what point the disc is getting tired.

I decided to give the Norton's a try and noticed that they seem to be lasting longer without any detriment to the mahoganny.

So . . . . .

This is a long winded question to others out there if you've found similar results.
 . . .  or different.

cheers,
Roger







                                                            Festool                                                         Norton

Roger I just read your post and am wondering if the Norton discs are performing better as you post indicated.
Thanks
Steve

I used Norton but mostly Klingspor sandpaper on my other sanders.  Has anyone compared the Klingspor paper to Festool's sandpaper?  I noticed they offer 5" and 6" paper with the Festool hole pattern in the recent Klingspor catalog.

Tom

I've been very satisfied with various Klingspor abrasives I have purchased and used >20 years, and especially their service in the past.  Before I even knew of Festool's existence I was sanding the parquet floor of my home with a Bosch 5" RO sander, and in the Klingspor catalogue of that time (Winter of 2001-2002) the coarsest H&L disks they offered to fit my sander were 50 or 60 grit (I don't remember exactly).  When I called them to ask if they had a coarser grit available, their lady agent said they did not stock any, but they would custom make me whatever I needed.  I ordered 40 grit open coat stearated H&L disks and received them in about 10 days.  The cost was surprisingly little more than stock disks in their catalogue.  P.S.  That floor came out great!

Dave R.