2
Coated Abrasives
7-5-4
Backed by over 90 years of industrial experience, 3M
Research has been a proven leader in developing new coated
abrasive products and systems for modern production opera-
tions.
In designing the versatile line of products, 3M draws from a
proven formula that's your assurance of dependable perform-
ance.
The formula is: 7 Minerals…5 Backings…4 Bonds.
7 Minerals
Minerals perform the basic job of cutting, 3M offers seven
kinds of natural and synthetic minerals to provide a rapid
cut and long working life.
Natural Minerals: emery, garnet.
Synthetic Minerals: ceramic aluminum oxide, aluminum
oxide, alumina zirconia, silicon carbide, industrial dia-
monds.
5 Backings
They’re the platforms that carry and support the mineral
grains.
Introduction
The Grindline Express catalog contains a wide variety of
Scotch-Brite surface conditioning products as well as a large
assortment of coated abrasive products designed to meet the
needs of both production applications and day to day MRO
situations. Choose from hand pads, rolls, discs, wheels, belts
and various bench area products. And, of course, we offer a
complete line of accessories to optimize product performance.
3M abrasive products are used on most materials including
ferrous and non-ferrous metals, specialized alloys, wood, plas-
tics, composites, ceramics, glass, leather and rubber. Types of
operations include grinding, deburring, cleaning, finishing,
polishing and blending.
How to use this catalog
This catalog is designed to be as “user friendly” as possible.
We have divided the catalog into sections: Hand Pads, Sheets,
Discs, Rolls, etc. You will see that each section begins with a
page that includes application photos and suggested uses. Each
section includes several tables containing the various products.
Simply find the size and grade for you, make a note of the
UPC number and order the product from your 3M Abrasive
Systems Division Distributor.
Splices (where applicable) are shown at the bottom of the
page.
Kut Stock items are identified with red UPC numbers.
Thanks for choosing 3M coated abrasive, surface conditioning
and superabrasive products.
The five categories include paper, cloth, fibre, paper and
cloth combination and polyester film.
4 Bonds
3M Coated Abrasives have two layers of adhesives: a
“make” coat to anchor the mineral, and a “size” coat to lock
the mineral to the backing.
3M offers four types of bonds; glue, resin over glue, resin
over resin and waterproof.
Remember the formula: 7 Minerals…5 Backings…4 Bonds.
It multiplies into an almost infinite combination of practical,
durable tools. Your 3M representative will help you find the
right combination to do the best job for you.
Coated Abrasives should be selected carefully, matching the
coated abrasive qualities to the materials and tools used and
the desired results. The answers to the questions below will
help determine the best coated abrasive to use for a specific
application:
Kind of substrate material—What is the composition of the
surface to be finished? What type of mineral is required to cut
the substrate? Does it have to be sanded wet or dry? Will it
tend to load the abrasive? The basic material is an important
factor in selecting the proper coated abrasive product.
Shape and condition—Is the surface flat or contoured?
Will the surface require a great deal of stock removal to level
a surface or to remove coats of paint or varnish, or does the
surface just have to be finished in preparation for coating?
Equipment—The equipment at hand will influence the form
of coated abrasive. Some equipment requires pre-fabricated
belts while others require cut sheets or discs.
Finish—What type of final finish is needed? A rough finish or
a smooth finish? The finish determines the grade or grade
sequence to use.
3M manufactures coated abrasives in many shapes and sizes
such as the standard sheets, rolls, discs, and belts. Also avail-
able are many specialized abrasive constructions such as PG
wheels, evenrun bands, cartridge rolls, fiber discs, adhesive
backed abrasives, and others.
Coated abrasive grades—Grade sizes are the size of the min-
eral grain. There are 22 common grades. They range from the
coarsest, grade 12, to an extremely fine powder like mineral
form, grade 600. For many newer applications, minerals are
also produced in more accurate gradations which are designat-
ed by the average particle diameter in microns. There are 12
micron grades. An open coat abrasive has mineral grains that
cover about 40% to 70% of the backing. An open coat abra-
sive is used where the material surface being abraded tends to
clog or load the coated abrasive surface. A closed coat abra-
sive has mineral grains covering 100% of the abrasive back-
ing. This construction is used where loading is less of a prob-
Size adhesive Mineral
Make adhesive Backing