Two or three years ago, I came across an advance in sanding disc technology from 3M. Several of the woodworking channels that came up in my feed demonstrated how the combination of net-based backing and precision engineering on the cutting surfaces gave better sanding, better dust extraction and greater longevity. Jane had started sanding down an old wooden box we have which needs a lot of work so I ordered a set of Xtract discs yesterday, which arrived this lunchtime.

The first thing I noticed was a label on the back saying they were only for commercial or professional use and not for the domestic market. That doesn’t make any sense as, if anything, these are a safer product (lower dust, remember). Maybe it helps justify the higher sticker price? It certainly doesn’t seem to be strongly policed by 3M, who run a large online store via the Amazon site. I also noticed that I should have brought the 5″ discs … except those cost over 15x as much as the 6″ discs for the same quantity, which makes even less sense.

However, while some things about the purchase confuse me, the 80 grit disc I tried today has worked very well. It isn’t entirely magical and doesn’t cut as aggressively as I expected but it does cut well. Having a net backing means the fact was a bit too large for my orbital sander wasn’t an issue and it has done an excellent job of avoiding excessive dust (shop vac attached to the sander) and clogging up. I reckon I would have burned through several of cheaper disks in my sanding session and the one I used looks like it will keep going for quite some time.

All in all, it seems a worthwhile purchase, even if some of the details were odd.