Ekamant Woodturner's Abrasives

In the course of the past few years, it has become generally accepted that the best abrasives for woodturning are those which employ Aluminium Oxide as the abrasive grain and which bond this superb abrasive to a lightweight (J-weight), flexible cloth backing.  The bonding of the abrasive grains is very important since the curse of the turner is the stray grain which, having come loose from the substrate, wreaks havoc as it is dragged across your masterpiece by the sanding process.  This is best avoided by using resin bonding to secure the grains in place without inhibiting the flexibility of the abrasive.

We have been lucky in discovering a top-quality supplier of such abrasive cloths but who delivers high-performance products at a reasonable price.  It is thus with a substantial degree of pride that we offer these abrasives from Swedish manufacturer Ekamant to turners, exclusively from The ToolPost, through the Internet.  One of the first things to impress us, after the performance of the abrasives, was the revelation that Ekamant are the only manufacturer of woodworking abrasives who specialise in the manufacture of products specifically for that purpose, not as a spin-off from activities targeted at the metal-working industries.

Two versions of this open-coat cloth are available, each in a  range of grits and choice of 2 widths (50mm/2" & 100mm/4").  For most woodturning, where work is confined to hardwoods and non-resinous timbers, we would recommend the standard finished cloth.  Where the timber to be sanded is of a resinous nature, then the stearated version of the cloth may be found to be beneficial, displaying as it does a greater resistance to clogging.  It is worth remarking that the manufacturers - experts in woodworking abrasives - advise that the use of coated cloth in inappropriate circumstances is likely to lead to results inferior to those that can be achieved using the standard un-coated products.  Why spend extra cash to get an inferior result?

Many turners, never having been exposed to genuine woodworking abrasives before may question the multiplicity of grit sizes (grades) offered here.  After all, if they are presented with a choice of only 60/120/180/240/320 or 400 by other manufacturers, why would Ekamant be different?  It comes back to being a specialist in the manufacture of woodworking abrasives - and a bit of common sense.  Let us suppose that you start by using 60 grit abrasive: which grade will remove the 60-grit scratches most quickly?  120 grit or 80 grit.  Obviously the answer is that 80 grit will, because it is much more coarse and much closer to the size of the scratches to be removed than is the 120 grit.  Now which grit will remove the 80 grit scratches quickest: 100 grit or 120 grit?  Again, the clear winner is 100 grit.  In fact, you can demonstrate to yourself that if you use the full range of grits which we provide, you will finish the overall sanding job faster, you will generate less heat during the sanding process and you will consume less abrasive in total, saving you money - and you will have a far superior surface finish.  Lots of initially sceptical people have decided to try our challenge and every one has come back and admitted that what we say is true.  Use the full range of grits and you win, win, win and win.  That's why we sell our Woodturner's Abrasive Pack, below - it gives you an easy and economical way to demonstrate these facts to yourself.

NB:  Having had experience of both over many years, we STRONGLY recommend the use of the 50mm/2 inch cloth as this avoids the stresses caused by tearing 100mm/4inch material across into convenient-sized strips, prolonging the abrasive's life and easing the turner's task!  The price difference is absolutely minimal too.  Give yourself a break!

©1997-2006 P. Hemsley.  The information on this website is the copyright property of Peter Hemsley. 
Coeur du Bois and The ToolPost are trading styles of Peter Hemsley.  Whilst reasonable efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, no liability can be accepted for errors in this information nor for contingencies arising therefrom.  If you are inexperienced in any aspect of woodworking, we would strongly counsel that you take a course of formal instruction before commencing to practice