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Selecting the right abrasive

Selecting an abrasive
Whether you are removing old coats of paint from furniture, chamfering edges, renovating worn wooden flooring, sanding wood, carrying out intermediate sanding, sanding filler compounds or simply removing coatings – using abrasives is vital when it comes to achieving the perfect precision fit or surface quality. In this application example, we explain which abrasive is suitable for which application.

    Description

    When it comes to sanding, tradespeople focus on two properties – the sanding process should maintain the right balance between producing a good surface quality and making good progress, and the abrasive should have a long service life. It goes without saying that both of these factors are also influenced by how the user handles the abrasive. Nevertheless, when selecting the right abrasive for an application, we are looking for what achieves the best results. This is because choosing the right abrasive will determine the surface quality, material removal capacity, dust levels and service life of the abrasive.

    Tools/accessories

    Alternative tools

    Overview/application of abrasives

    • Granat

      Granat is a universal premium abrasive and can be used for a variety of applications, from coarse to fine sanding. In particular, Granat achieves perfect results when sanding water-dilutable VOC-compliant clear coats. The abrasive's special surface finish greatly minimises grit clogging and therefore leads to a long service life. 

      Areas of use:
      Solvent-based clear coats and paints
      Water-based paints/VOC-compliant coatings
      Filler compounds
      Surfaces, such as GRP surfaces
      Filler
      Mineral materials
      Plastics/acrylic glass


      Grit from P40–P1500
      Material carriers from P800 grit

       

      +
      sanding ceilings

    • Granat Net

      Granat Net is the perfect abrasive for machining surfaces that produce large quantities of dust, e.g. filler compounds. Thanks to the open mesh structure, materials can be extracted from the entire surface.
      Granat Net is a net abrasive with particularly stable edges, meaning that it is protected against premature tearing.

      Areas of use:
      Filler compounds
      Wood
      Plasters
      Dispersion-based fillers
      Filler
      Fine sanding of paints and clear coats
      Paste-like fillers

      Grit from P80–P400

      Tip: When using Granat Net in conjunction with an eccentric disc sander/orbital sander, use a protection pad to protect the sanding pad.

      +
      sanding the wall

    • Rubin 2

      Rubin is the perfect abrasive for machining soft and hard wood. Specially developed for the requirements of the joinery and carpentry industries. Thanks to its robust paper backing, Rubin 2 is also ideal for heavy use when machining wood and composites.

      Areas of use:  
      Hardwood
      Softwood
      Wood composites
      Tropical woods
      Veneered surfaces

      Grit P40–P220

      +
      Belt sander

    • Saphir

      For extreme demands during coarse sanding. Thanks to its robust cloth backing, the abrasive is tear-resistant, making it ideal for the toughest demands when machining wood and metal. 

      Areas of use:
      Hard surfaces
      Worn steps and roughly sawn wooden parts
      Deburring and rust removal
      Fibre-reinforced plastics

      Grit P24–P80

      +
      Sanding wooden walls

    • Vlies

      Vlies is the ideal abrasive for matting and lightly sanding paints, clear coats and mineral materials, as well as for cleaning, oiling and waxing surfaces such as wood and metal. 
      It is particularly suitable for preparing glazed doors and windows, as well as washing the wetting agent of zinc and galvanised surfaces. 

      Areas of use: 
      Lightly sanding old clear coats and glaze coatings before recoating
      Smooth sanding of metal
      Finishing of mineral materials
      Oiling and waxing of natural wood
      Cleaning of wood materials

      +
      Manual sanding

    • Platin 2

      Platin 2 was developed for polishing preparation and matting high-gloss paints. Its foam backing makes Platin 2 highly adaptable and extremely flexible. The foam can absorb moisture and dust, meaning that Platin 2 is capable of virtually dust-free sanding. Platin 2 reduces the amount of sanding through at the edges and produces an even sanding pattern. Platin 2 is ideal for finishing surfaces and masonry. 

      Areas of use:
      Old and new clear coats
      High-gloss paints
      Undercoats and fillers
      Mineral composites, acrylic glass
      Plastics

      Grits: S400–S4000

       

      +
      Polishing

    • Granat Soft

      Granat Soft is an abrasive paper on a foam backing. Granat Soft was specifically developed for sanding walls and ceilings and is very adaptable because of its soft foam backing. In particular, it provides safe and faultless sanding for soft fillers (ready-made fillers). 

      Areas of use:
      Sanding entire walls and ceilings
      Dispersion-based fillers
      Ready-made fillers
      Spray fillers
      Quality levels Q3–Q4

      Grits P80–P400

      +
      Long-reach sander

    1. Our illustrated guides and work results are documented working steps that we have performed in practice. They are individual examples and do not guarantee or promise that users will obtain the same results. The results will depend on the user's experience and skill, as well as the material being used. Illustrated guides do not replace any Festool operating manuals and/or safety instructions. Liability for ensuring that the information, instructions and applications are free from content defects and defects of title, in particular with regard to the absence of defects, correctness, freedom from third party intellectual property rights and copyrights, completeness and fitness for purpose, is excluded. Claims for damages made by the user, regardless of their legal basis, are excluded. These liability exclusions are not applicable if the damage was intentional or caused by gross negligence, or in cases of statutory liability.

      We cannot accept liability for damage resulting from defects.↑