NEW ETSC 2-125 & 150-18V battery powered

[Neil Lickfold]

@Neil Lickfold What brand is the disc you're using there? Haven't seen that one before.

One to keep an eye out for and that I'm planning to try when Best Abrasives have them on special next, are the new Mirka Ligno discs, looks fantastic for wood.

Got a flyer from Sydney tools, they have a new to me sand paper from 3M , that is on porous a mesh of some sort. Going to go and have a look and get one to try. They have them in 150 and 125mm. I will cut into my 125mm pad and add the outer slots like the 150 pad has, and see if that makes it clean sanding like the 150mm pad is.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Got a flyer from Sydney tools, they have a new to me sand paper from 3M , that is on porous a mesh of some sort. Going to go and have a look and get one to try. They have them in 150 and 125mm. I will cut into my 125mm pad and add the outer slots like the 150 pad has, and see if that makes it clean sanding like the 150mm pad is.

That sounds like 3M Cubitron 2, really nice discs but probably the easiest to tear/damage on anything non-flat. Doesn't last real long but is great coming out of the gate. I find the higher grits to be more economical.

 

[Cheese]

Got a flyer from Sydney tools, they have a new to me sand paper from 3M , that is on porous a mesh of some sort. Going to go and have a look and get one to try. They have them in 150 and 125mm. I will cut into my 125mm pad and add the outer slots like the 150 pad has, and see if that makes it clean sanding like the 150mm pad is.

Just curious...do they look like this? If so, 3M released these about 4 years ago.

3M offers them in 12 piece sample packs of 2 each in 80-120-180-220-240 and 320 grit.
125mm discs are P/N 88518
150mm discs are P/N 88516

 

[Neil Lickfold]

Yes that is them, so I got 1 to try.

 

[Cheese]

Neil, the first thing you'll notice is the sharpness of the grains. Cubitron™ II is a shaped ceramic grain so they start off much sharper than conventional ceramic papers. Some folks have complained that the 3M net (Xtract) can be delicate thus having a short life.

 

[Neil Lickfold]

Neil, the first thing you'll notice is the sharpness of the grains. Cubitron™ II is a shaped ceramic grain so they start off much sharper than conventional ceramic papers. Some folks have complained that the 3M net (Xtract) can be delicate thus having a short life.

Thanks for the heads up about the Cubitron. What I have decided about the 5 inch version for my ETSC 2 150, is just to cut down the diameter of a150 pad to 125mm. Picked one up today with that in mind. That way, I can have alot more pad hole options, as well as getting the vacuum from the outer edge, as the 150 pad already has ports for that. Then I don't need the shim with the 125 pad either. Hopefully it will stay cleaner too.

 

[Neil Lickfold]

So I tried the Cubitron paper , and it was no better than the one I have been using. But have not done a proper test, so will try it again on another project.
I reworked the 150 pad down to Ø129mm. Leaving it oversized by a couple of mm. My thinking is that the extra diameter with outer venting will collect more surface dust.
It worked very well. It works better than the 150mm pad for the dust collection , especially the amount left on the surface of the piece.
I put some duct tape around the perimeter of the sander to cover the exposed ports in the disc.
So when the 150mm protector pad is trimmed to the 129mm size, it automatically has the openings to give the radial venting .
After an hour of sanding with the 5 inch 80 grit paper, there is very little dust on the sander. There is some on the battery.
Its working better than the modified 125mm pad I was using on the 150 sander.
This is no good if you want to sand right up to an edge, unless there is some 130mm paper out there. But for getting to the edges I will use the 150 setup.
Here are some pictures of the modified 150mm pad to Ø129mm.

 

[Zaph]