Foam abrasives
Thanks to their conformability, our foam abrasives are ideal for hard-to-reach areas and profiled surfaces. They can be folded without creasing, thus guaranteeing an even and scratch-free sanded finish.
Advantages
When sanding with foam abrasives, the focus is not only on removing as much material as possible. It is vital to achieve a smooth and even result when preparing surfaces for subsequent painting or varnishing. If the goal is to achieve a perfect workpiece surface finish with low scratch depth, applying pressure in two dimensions when sanding (such as using conventional sandpaper) is not enough, for example when using paper-backed abrasives.
Instead, pressure needs to be applied in three dimensions. Force can be applied in three dimensions by using the foam as the carrier material in connection with a flexible binder resin. This allows the grit to dissipate the contact pressure along a Z-axis. Advantage: The abrasive grit does not cut into the material as deeply and breaks off less. As such, less material is removed and no sanding through of the material occurs at the edges. Instead, we achieve a homogeneous surface.
Manufacturing
Sanding blocks and abrasive sponges consist of three components: foam, usually made from EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), PU (polyurethane) or recycled PU waste, binder resin and abrasive grit made of aluminium oxide or white aluminium oxide.
Foam production
Thanks to our in-house foam production facility, we have full quality control and can adapt both the density and hardness of materials perfectly to the needs of the market and our customers. The result: outstanding finish in manual sanding on wood, paints and varnishes. In addition, we recycle PU waste (Chip Foam) and process it into good quality sanding blocks.
The coating process
Following application of the adhesive, the abrasive grit is gravity fed and scattered onto two adjacent sides of the block or one side of a pad. The process guarantees a perfect grit coating even on the edges of the product. This special binder coating ensures flexible fixing of the abrasive grits. All our products are meticulously monitored before they leave the factory.
Formats
sia Abrasives offers a large selection of foam abrasives. Depending on application, users can choose between rolls, blocks, strips, pads and discs.