Special
Providers of abrasives
UNDENIABLE MOVE TOWARDS A LONGER LIFESPAN SILICON CARBIDE AND ALUMINIUM OXIDE MAKE WAY FOR ZIRCONIUM AND EVEN CERAMICS There are few materials which require as much professional expertise as wood. Each wood sort has its own characteristics and that means that you have to take that into account, certainly with sanding. If we look at market developments, we see a clear line: abrasive materials with silicon carbide and aluminium oxide have been ousted for some years now by zirconium, ‘the new strong man’. Much more recently, ceramics have started to emerge as an abrasive material. Whilst aluminium oxide and silicon carbide had the last word until about ten years ago, at present we notice that zirconium and also ceramics have taken the market by storm.
Zirconium versus aluminium oxide and silicon carbide At present, sanding with zirconium (or with a mix in which zirconium is the most prominent element) stands out, and that really is no surprise. The main reason for choosing this material is simply that the bands last up to five or six times longer than aluminium oxide and silicon carbide. Whilst the latter products soon become blunt and jaded, we note that zirconium hardly ever behaves like that, if at all, due to its extra grain hardness. Yet it offers the same grip and sharpness to ensure smooth sanding. The point is that the grain always breaks off a very small piece to retain the same sharpness. This is in contrast to the bluntness of aluminium and silicon. Moreover, an extra benefit, certainly for parquet floor fitters working with wood, is that zirconium processes very well. The reason for that is quite simple. The grains with this product are further apart, so it is much easier for the dust to escape. The result is that the wood doesn’t get burnt (so there are no characteristic black marks) because the temperature doesn’t build up anything like as quickly. Various things also mean that you always see perfectly what you are sanding, and that can only contribute to a high quality end result. Moreover, there’s one more benefit: Zirconium is also ideal for renovation jobs. After all, it removes extremely hard coating systems much better, such as UV hardened lacquers or DD lacquers.
Scrubbing brushes have their say
Parallel to the main article we want to give separate consideration to scrubbing brushes and we consider scrubbing brushes under stationary and non-stationary machines (or rotary sanding machines). Why and when do we use these scrubbing brushes? If we go back in time, you have to realise that for brushing a wooden floor in situ there has been a change from a sanding drum with sandpaper to a brush which is put under the machine. Such a stationary machine does have a certain drawback: It compels you to stay quite a long way from the side and, after that, you have to finish the job on that side manually. Moreover, the brushing result is also relatively coarse. A good answer to this are the rotary machines with a plate for several discs. If you put brushes onto that plate, it is possible to ‘dive into the sides’ more subtly and easily. What we certainly have noticed on the market is that there is a tendency towards greater use of multi-disc sanding machines. These are very efficient due to their relatively low weight. There is, however, one comment by way of reservation: That lighter weight makes them less suitable for a number of heavy jobs, such as removing old coats of lacquer.
Some specialists Bona
The ceramic story Where do ceramics fit into this story? You can say that the basic difference is that ceramics are even harder than zirconium. In practice, this means that ceramic bands are ideal for rough sanding and, after that, you can do the rest with zirconium. Finally, ask yourself: Why doesn’t anyone use glass or diamond? The answer is short and to the point. Glass is certainly not suitable for the parquet industry and diamond even less so because they are considerably more expensive.
20
Floor Forum International 117
The key to the best sanding results lies in a perfect combination of machines and the abrasives used. The Bona sanding assortment yields not only excellent results, but also their systems are developed for maximum efficiency, comfort, and safety. A selection from the wide range of Bona abrasives: Bona Ceramic (Series 8700 - Grey) Superior abrasive material made from ceramic quality for the simple removal of hard UV lacquers and adhesive residue and for levelling
