Have to admit I'm an Abranet addict... In the past, with "traditional discs", no matter how hard I tried, I never managed to align the holes, especially with the cheapo discs, even the Fe$tool discs proved challenging, at least on my Mirka.
Abranet is just slapped on, the problem with it is that it catches easily on sharp edges and tears far too easily... the consoling factor is that it can be repurposed on these blocks, even with the ragged edges.... unfortunately they (sanding blocks), are not the best for "normal holey" paper, Condolences to the disc that sacrificed itself for the demo.
I bought and tried some Mirka Galaxy, as I was informed that it was more robust than Abranet. In my opinion, just marginally as it still managed to catch an edge, but not rip as easily... however, lining up the holes is a PITA and I had to turn and balance my Mirka upside down... and when you forget to switch it off, owners will attest to that bloody touchy paddle.
On LJ, I read a very good comparisson/review about 3M Cubitron and bought a box of each of the more common grits, No hole alignment... Unfortunately I haven't put it through it's paces as I want to exhaust my stockpile of Abranet first.
Talk about stockpiling, I have a bad habit of that and prior to discovering Abranet, I built up a collection of sanding discs, Unfortunately they all have holes so I don't know whether I can repurpose them.
Further to hand sanding, I am a fan of these soft foam centered blocks, they are ideal for profile hand sanding.
I got together with a number of local woodies and order a swag of these blocks (250 of each) from the states to be split between four of us, unfortunately when it came to settle, they all pulled out... and people often wonder why I have an attitude towards cheap.
While talking "sandpaper", I've found these flappers mounted on a slow speed grinder invaluable for profiles sanding, Had to resort to my 3D printer to mount them properly. Also thees profiles on a multi-tool will get in spots that even I couldn't scratch, (just garden variety sandpaper).
If you use your hook backed sander a lot, I suggest using a backer to minimise heat/friction damage to the hooks, (proped up as I didn't want to remove it and then realign those holes), have them on all my hook sanders.
And to leave with a suggestion, hook glued to your dusty (my shopbuilt DD cradle), is a great was to keep the recycle disc handy.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
