Getting Rotex 150. What do you recommend for abrasives ??

00thos

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I mainly make furniture (hobbyist) Only wood.  What combo of abrasives would you get.  Rubin2, granat, brilliant2?
I was thinking Rubin 2 : 50 , 100, 150 then brilliant2: 180, 220, 320
 
I went Granat. To me it's the perfect all rounder ... but if you're certain you're only playing with new wood, you could be on a better path.
 
Actually I think I'll go a little more into detail about the three abrasive families mentioned and where they differ.

The original Rubin was always a great all-rounder for wood.  The new Rubin 2 takes that, and furthers the design for wood applications, so you're spot on with your selection.  

Brilliant 2 is a modified Rubin, essentially with an overlay anti-static, anti-clogging coating over the grits on the paper, exposing only the tips.  What this does, is 1.) give you a shallower cut, less swirl marks, for an ultra fine finish, as well as 2.) better dust evacuation, with much shallower valleys between grits on the paper.  As the name implies, Brilliant 2 will give you a brilliant finish, typically used for fine / ultra fine sanding.

Granat is a newer product, becoming available to the US market in 2012.  Generally considered a magic bullet, Granat was initially developed for Festool Automotive System, specifically for Porsche paint, which uses low VOC paints which dries harder, naturally becoming much tougher on abrasives.  Grant eventually found it's way into the woodworking catalog because of incredible cutting characteristics, exceptional dust evacuation properties, as well as very high durability of grit and paper.  In Festool lab testing, Granat outlasts other papers by 2 to 1, becoming so effective that Festool has once considered altogether discontinuing most other families of abrasives.  The grits for Granat are heat treated, and lower grits are comprised of aluminum oxide and ceramics which stay really sharp (when worn/chipped, the grit matrix sheer off in sharp angles).  Higher grits continue use of heat treated aluminum oxide.  The bonding agent is high-temp rated as well, and the Granat also shares the anti-static, anti-clogging, coating as the Brilliant 2.  The Granat is a bit more expensive, but hey, premium product, premium price.

Hope this helps :)
 
I, too, am a hobbyist woodworker, and switched to Granat shortly after it came out.  It has a great range of grits, wide availability, and does a great job.  It really lasts, too, so it is more economical than most of the others.

I have used up most of the other types I had, and plan to stick with Granat almost exclusively.
You know what to expect when you aren't changing type, only grits.

Steve
 
I particularly like Granat 80 for removing glue.

Granat 320 has been excellent for sanding paint (acrylic/latex)  between coats.

Not real fond of Granat 150 and up on wood compared to Rubin and Brilliant on wood.

Seth
 
I've only used Granat with the RO90 and have never found myself wanting something else. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing but Granat has been getting it done for me.
 
I currently use Rubin 2  for bare wood,and Brilliant for sanding between sealer coats on finishes.As my stock runs out,I plan on replacing it all with Granat,I tried some for both applications,and I was really impressed!
 
I haven't tried Rubin 2 yet, but before that Rubin was definitely the best choice for bare wood, in my opinion. It cut the fastest and left the best looking surface, better than Brilliant or Granat.

For finish sanding on bare wood with the higher grits I think Brillant 2 is better than Granat, leaving a nicer surface, with a nicer colour and smoothness.

For paint removal I think Brilliant and Granat do equally well, when we're talking about alkyd/oil based paints. I really see no difference in the quality of the resulting surface or time the paper lasts.

When it comes to acrylic paints Granat does better because it takes longer before it clogs

And for drywall sanding I find Granat also does better than Brilliant, again because it takes a lot longer to clog. Especially here the difference in time before clogging is quite noticeable.

And for car paints/metal I really prefer Titan, it's quite different from both Granat and Brilliant.

Of course this is all my opinion, other people might think differently, but I don't believe in The Magic Bullet Theory, one type of paper that does best for all. Every paper has it pros and cons. How they work out best for you is matter of experimenting.
 
Alex said:
Of course this is all my opinion, other people might think differently, but I don't believe in The Magic Bullet Theory, one type of paper that does best for all. Every paper has it pros and cons. How they work out best for you is matter of experimenting.

Exactly correct!  Festool didn't believe in the magic bullet theory either, which is why almost all of the abrasive families are still running strong :)

Cristal was the only lineup that truly was overshadowed, on one hand by Granat, on another by Saphir, thus was discontinued earlier this year.

What Granat represents is an exceptional coarse sander, a very good all-rounder for multiple materials, and by far the widest grit range availability from P40 up to P1500, but of course, for more specialized tasks, a more specialized paper will get you further improved results.  
 
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I recently tried the disc of Granet that came with my Rotex 150 on some rough sawn Australian Mountain Ash. I was soon reaching for Rubin. Stick to Rubin for bare wood, at least to 180 grit. Then I change to Brilliant.
 
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