Collection: Abrasives

Dagobert Industrie, an authorised 3M distributor, stocks the coated abrasives used on the shop floor: discs, belts, rolls, sheets, brushes, wheels and sponges, for surface preparation, deburring, sanding and finishing on metal, wood, composite and plastic.

By abrasive form

• Sanding discs and fibre discs, for sanders and angle grinders.
• Abrasive belts, for belt sanders and backstands.
• Abrasive rolls and shop rolls, cut to the length you need.
• Abrasive sheets and sanding sponges, for hand work.
• Abrasive brushes and abrasive wheels, for deburring and satin finishing.
• Flap discs and cut-off wheels, for grinding and cutting.

The three questions that decide an abrasive

1. Which grit, and in what order

Grit is given as a number: the higher it is, the finer the grain. A P40 removes material fast and leaves deep scratches; a P400 removes almost nothing and prepares a surface for paint.

The rule that saves the most time is the progression rule. Each pass must erase the scratches left by the previous one, and skipping more than one step in the series forces far longer work for a less even result. Going P80, then P120, then P180 is faster than going straight from P80 to P180.

2. Which grain type

Aluminium oxide is the versatile, economical grain. It dulls gradually.

Zirconia fractures as it renews itself, which makes it last longer under heavy pressure. It shows its worth grinding steel.

Precision-shaped ceramic, as used in the Cubitron ranges, is cut into micro-triangles that slice the material instead of rubbing it. It removes more at equal pressure, heats the workpiece less and lasts considerably longer. It costs more per piece, and pays for itself as soon as operator time matters more than the price of the consumable.

3. Which backing

Paper is cheap and stiff, but it dislikes moisture and tears on edges. Cloth resists tearing and accepts wet work. Film offers a very consistent thickness, useful for fine finishing where any variation shows. Mesh is open across its whole surface, so extraction works everywhere and clogging is greatly reduced.

Clogging, the biggest source of waste

A discarded abrasive is not always a worn abrasive. On paint, filler and soft metals such as aluminium, the disc loads up with material that sticks between the grains and stops the cut. The operator then presses harder, which generates heat, which makes it load up further.

Two remedies. Work with extraction, which removes particles before they can stick again. And reduce downward pressure: an abrasive that cuts does so under the weight of the machine, not the weight of the operator.