Understanding Festool Sandpaper & Abrasives

Festool has many lines of sandpaper for their various sanders - with goals ranging from rapid material removal to producing super-smooth finish.

Granat Sandpaper

Festool’s most popular sandpaper line is Granat. Granat is highly effective on a variety of materials, including bare wood, painted wood, plastic, solid surface, metal, acrylics, stone and composites. Granat also comes in the widest ranges of grits - from P 40 through P 1500 for 5” and 6” sanders, and a more limited range, but still large, for other sanders.

Rubin 2 Sandpaper

The next most popular line is Rubin. Rubin was developed for natural wood, wood composites and veneers and has a special coating which sheds wood fibers. Some folks remember the R - Rubin for Raw Wood. Rubin comes in grits from P 40 - P 220.

Saphir Sandpaper

Saphir comes only in coarse grits because it is designed to sand very aggressively. It’s ideal for aggressive stock removal and heavy stripping jobs of hard, stubborn and thick coatings. Saphir comes in four grits: 24, 36, 50 and 80.

Granat Net

Granat Net is designed for sanding materials that produce a large amount of dust, with an open net structure (like Abranet) that allows for maximum dust extraction. Use it with a Protection Pad. Comes in grits P80 - 400.

Platin 2 Sandpaper

Platin 2 is made for high-gloss finishes, prep for polishing with pumice and rottenstone and prep for paint. Platin comes in 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 grits.

Other Festool abrasives

Vlies - pronounced “fleece,” is made of elastic aluminum oxide fiber mat with embedded abrasive particles (similar to Norton BearTex). It's the perfect material anytime you need to do deep pore cleaning on natural woods, veneers and contours.

It's also great for removing rust and tarnish and de-greasing metal, wood and paint. It is very forgiving of uneven surfaces.

Polishing Compounds

Festool offers polishing compounds that work in tandem with polishing pads to give a mirror finish. The polishing compounds are liquids that come in squeeze bottles in three formulations: MPA 5010 Speed Cut (use with orange pads and with sheepskin); MPA 9010 Fine Polishing (use with blue pads); and MPA 11010 High Gloss (use with white pads). Festool also offers two related products, both offered in spray bottles: a water-based, non-silicone, shine-promoting Sealant that serves as the final step in the polishing process and protects and maintains the clear coat, and a Cleaner that removing polish residues and grease marks.

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