Abranet, any good or an expensive gimmick.

[Old Croc]

About a year ago I was conned into buying a few 1M rolls of Abranet and I have just got around to using them. I have settled on using SIA cloth backed abrasive for my turning as I have found it to be the best up here in the humidity. Well after running through the 240, 320 and 400 Abranet during a huge week of turning, I honestly don't think it worked any better or lasted any longer than the SIA. So from my limited trial it appears to be an expensive gimmick that did not work any better for hand sanding. Am I wrong? What are other turners experiences with it?
Rgds,
Crocy.

[Willy Nelson]

Hello Mate
I was given some to trial a while ago, I like it, but was no good for sanding irregular shaped burls as it would grab.
I buy my sandpaper in bulk, I can get it really cheap, so I reckon it is definitely NOT worth the price
Willy

[Richard Hodsdon]

have been using Abranet for years now (since '09) think its great. Works well for hand sanding , power sanding etc. Works a charm for wet sanding t(then it was designed for wet sanding in the automotive refinishing).
One thing i did find was that i had to replace the Velcro on the power sanders as the " as supplied" 50mm and 75 mm wouldn't grip the finer grits well. Now with a different velcro it grips well.
Only other paper that I found works as well is the white Klingspor that they sell for Random Orbital Sanders

[dr4g0nfly]

As noted above, Abranet was not designed for use on wood, Richard says Automotive but I first met it in aircraft manufacture. Both a long way from our use.

I do use it and find it works well enough, the dust knocks out easily enough but if you want to fold it for a hard edge against a detail, it's not so good.