What do I start the abrasives collection with

[southern_guy]

The online auction gods smiled on me kindly, and I will shortly take delivery of a Rotex RO 150 E, and so I will need to acquire a good basic selection of abrasives. To begin with I am going to be using it to attack a glued up panel that will become the doors and drawer fronts of a bathroom vanity, and sanding back some long lengths of shelving that have a black stain.

I am thinking that I just need a selection of Ruben and Brilliant 2, but don't know if I need every grit. What is a good selection?

 

[Bob Childress]

Well, I suppose there will be many opinions and this is just one. When I got my first Festo sander I, like you, wondered what assortment would be best. So I ordered the small packs of a number of grits (40, 80, 120, 180, 220) and waited to see what I would use the most of. It turned out that a little 40 grit goes a long way, unless you are a wood sculptor.  ;D Unless I need to remove a good bit of material, I start with the 120 and go up. Festo's paper is soooo much better than others that it is easy to start at a higher grit.

But, I found I used more 220 and 320 than I thought I would. In the end, bought big boxes of 80, 120, 180, and 220. Smaller amounts of others. My local woodcraft will break boxes of higher grits, so I could buy, for example, 25 @ 400 grit and a couple of platin 500 and 1000. HTH. 

 

[Eli]

I think Bob has given good advice. The only thing I'd add is I recently discovered the paper goes even further if you use one of those gum rubber abrasive cleaner sticks to unf%$k it every so often.

 

[southern_guy]

Bob, do you use Ruben or Brilliant 2 for the lower grits

 

[Bob Childress]

Rubin for 80, 120 and most 180. Brilliant for some 180 and 220, 320, 400. Platin for above that (if needed). 

If I ever decide to refinish an aeroplane, I'll order some Cristal.  ;D

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I generally agree with Bob's advice, but quickly add that it depends on what you plan to do.  My first Festool was an RO 125, purchased to help me carve out many cracks in the ceiling and walls of my old house.  So for me, a heavy duty backing and 36 and 50 grit were much used.  As others have said, Festool's abrasive supplies are high quality.  Although I dulled those 36 grit disks, none of them ripped or developed a feathered edge despite my holding the sander at an angle to increase the cutting force and to carve an undercut groove in the plaster (which I later filled with fiberglass mesh tape and setting type compound).  I kept those disks and they are still quite useful for roughing out wood.

But if you are starting with unfinished, planed wood, you are not likely to have much need for anything coarser than 80 grit, and maybe an occasional 60 grit.

I find that I use 80, 100 and 120 grit most of the time in restoring the natural finish woodwork in my house, and for most purposes, even when sanding between coats of brushed on finish, only ~180 - 220 grit is needed.  If your goal is a very fine finish, and you are going to spray on many thin coats, then you'll want finer grades.

Dave R.

 

[Jim McFarland]

After several mis-steps (quantity 50 80grit Brilliant was a bad decision, IME), I recommend these:
  Cristal for 100 and lower grits (resists loading extremely well)
  Rubin 120 150
  Brilliant 220, 320 (150 and 400 ok, too)
  Mirka Abranet 400, 600

Have yet to try Mirka Abralon in 800+ grits but plan to try that or Platin (small quantities of each to try this time  ) next time I want a gloss finish (maybe some Menzerna polish as well).  I also like Mirlon UF synthetic "steel wool" for rubbing out to a satin finish.

 

[Lou Miller]

I basically agree with most of the above postings. However, I would suggest you add some Cristal to your list as well. For any kind of heavy sanding, the stuff is awesome. Much faster and longer lasting than the Rubin. I compared 50 grit Rubin to 60 grit Cristal recently and the Cristal blew it away. The Rubin is really good stuff, but the Cristal is easily faster. The Cristal doesn't clog anywhere near as fast as the Rubin either.

I personally use Cristal in 40 and 60. Rubin in 80,100,120,150, 180. Brilliant in 220,320, 400. I also use some Platin as well, but not very often.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I use a lot more 80 grit rubin than anything else.  Once everything is flat (with 80 rubin) the other grits move along quickly.  I switch to Brilliant at 220.  Having said that, I am amazed at how little of anything I use - the stuff lasts a long time.

 

[Tim Sproul]

I will pipe in with my opinion.

I make furniture for a hobby - restoration/refinishing is an entirely different thing.

I find little use for the brilliant papers.  Why?  The lower grits aren't aggressive enough and the higher grits aren't fine enough for finishes.

I use rubin (have a some cristal but haven't used any yet) from 120 to 180 grit on bare wood to do surface prep for finish.  I stop at 150 for film finishes and 180 for oil finishes.  I don't see any advantage to going higher in grits other than when you're going to leave the wood bare.

For finishes, I lightly sand by hand when needed between coats or to apply something like BLO so those aren't Festo abrasives.  I do everything in my power to avoid needing to 'erase' an applied finish as that is just too much of a PITA.  I have some Titan papers but prefer Mirka's Abralon polishing pads and using Menzerna polish if I really want gloss.

So, if you are in this to make furniture, I'd recommend concentrating on Rubin and maybe some Cristal abrasives....