Tool review: Sanding Discs

These discs deserve your dollars

Klingspor's Stearate discs, with the most aggressive and durable abrasives in the test and the lowest cost per disc, proved the perfect storm of material removal. But several other discs finished finer. So, for our money, we'd use Klingspor Stearate for initial sanding and then switch to one of the disc brands that left no visible scratches at 180 grit: Bosch, Gator Power, Makita, Mirka Abranet, or Norton 3X or MultiAir.

If you want to stick with one brand, Makita, Mirka Abranet, and Norton 3X do the job admirably from start to finish, but cost about twice as much per gram removed as Klingspor Stearate.

For this article, we reviewed 3M Sandblaster, Ace Hardware Hook and Loop, Bosch Standard, Craftsman Standard and Professional, Gator Power and Gator Ultra Power, Klingspor Stearate and Heavyweight, Makita Hook and Loop, Mirka Abranet and Gold, Norton 3X and MultiAir, and Porter-Cable EXP sanding discs.

Sanding Disc Showdown Woodworking Tool Review