Our Range of Aluminium Oxide Products

The least expensive of all the available types of grain, aluminium oxide is a general purpose option and one of the most widely used. It is durable with sharp cutting edges and requires little pressure to remove material, however it dulls during use and so its performance reduces over time.

Narrow Sanding Belts

We offer a variety of cloth-backed aluminium oxide materials on our Narrow Belt Calculator, for substrates including woods and metals. Simply enter the belt width, length and grit size which you require, after which you will see the price and pack quantity which you can add to your basket.

For sanding woods we recommend the Sia 2920, which has an open coat; this means that only 50% of the surface of the belt is covered in abrasive grain, which helps to prevent residue transferring on to it from the workpiece and so is ideal for soft, resinous woods that are prone to loading up on the abrasive. For hard woods the Hermes RB377YX is most suitable as it is closed coat and the surface of the belt is therefore 100% covered in grain, with the aggressive sanding action effective in breaking down the solid workpiece.

Where metalwork is concerned we would only suggest using aluminium oxide to grind aluminium, as there are more suitable materials for working on other metals. Aluminium is a soft metal which easily loads up on the belt, with the problem getting worse as the temperature of the workpiece increases. While you can mitigate this by using a spray such as Shark Oil, this will eventually clog up the abrasive regardless of the type of grain to the point it is no longer useable, and so with aluminium oxide being the least expensive it is the obvious economical option.

The two suitable materials for grinding aluminium are again the Hermes RB377YX, which is applicable in the majority of cases as it has a stiff X-weight cloth backing that provides strength and durability for most machine sanding applications, and the Hermes RB 346J, which has a lightweight J-weight cloth backing to allow some flexibility when sanding on curves and contours (e.g. polishing tubes and handrails.)

Go To Our Narrow Belt Calculator

Wide Sanding Belts

For wide belts which are 600mm or wider we have a number of materials available on our Wide Belt Calculator, with options for both a paper and cloth backing. Simply enter the belt width, length and grit size which you require, after which you will see the price and pack quantity which you can add to your basket.

To sand hard wood we offer the Mirka Jepuflex which is closed coat with a durable F-weight paper backing to effectively sand down the solid workpiece, or alternatively we can supply the Mirka Hiolit X, which has an even stronger X-weight cloth backing for increased durability and extended service life up to 2-3 times that of paper materials.

The paper backed Mirka Avomax or Sia 1919 are both ideal for soft woods due to their open coat grain reducing the transfer of residue from the workpiece.

Many of our customers do however work on both hard and soft woods and so are better served by a dual-purpose material that they can use interchangeably, instead of having to keep changing the belt over depending on which they are working on. In such instances we recommend the high quality paper backed Mirka Ultimax, which is closed coat for sanding hard woods, however it is also optimised for soft woods as it features a series of tiny cavities in the abrasive which work to prevent clogging.

Wide belts can also be used for graining sheets of stainless steel, of which either the paper backed Mirka Jepuflex or Sia 1919 would be ideal, along with the Mirka Hiolit X which is cloth backed and will offer much longer life.

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Abrasive Flap Wheels

Flap wheels offer a gentle finishing action on low pressure applications, and as the grain wears away so does the cloth backing which continually exposes fresh abrasive. These are available in two forms; the first being ideal for working on contoured and uneven surfaces such as the internal diameter of steel pipes or tubes, with these being mounted on a 6mm diameter spindle for use on a die grinder or drill.

The other option is with a wooden-centre designed to be screwed on to a tapered spindle on a polishing machine, for large scale surface preparation and deburring.

View Our Range of Flap Wheels

Sanding Rolls

Rolls are popular for sanding by hand as this allows access to hard-to-reach areas and curves/contours, often producing less dust than machine sanding and offering greater control over the finish. Paper and lightweight flexible cloth backed materials are easy to tear off into suitably sized strips and apply directly to the workpiece, or to wrap around hand blocks and mold around the surface for sanding more evenly.

Latex-backed rolls are resistant to tearing and so ideal for wet or dry orbital sanding operations. These can be cut to size and attached to the sander with the use of clips at each end of the backing pad, as is the case with sponge-backed perforated rolls which tear at the perforations into ready-cut 115x230mm strips for either hand or machine sanding.

The sponge backing delivers optimum pressure distribution for a consistent sanding pattern, with recommended applications including keying of solid surfaces, primers and fillers, as well as final sanding as preparation for painting due to being available up to a very fine P1500 grade.

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Sanding Strips

With a sturdy net backing the Sianet 7900 Strips are tear-resistant and offer full-surface dust extraction, eliminating the need to align vacuum holes. The open structure reduces clogging on soft materials which extends the life of the abrasive. As such these are perfect for sanding off coatings and impurities as well as keying of paints, lacquers, primers and fillers.

Being velcro-backed means these are designed for use on orbital sanders or hand sanding blocks, offering a high removal rate with a consistent finish.

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