When it comes to flap discs we have really seen a lot of improvements in recent years, on a never ending quest to find the perfect flap disc we might be pretty close. The new CS Unitec Plantex Sunfire Ceramic Flap Disc brings a lot of things together in a single package that can do a lot for a pretty reasonable price. For a Traditional Flap Wheel with 7/8” opening, commonly 40, 60 or 80 grit and fiberglass backing you’ll pay around $3 wheel. Still a terrific option but you’re not able to use the full wheel, messing around to change the wheel each time, potentially breathing in fiberglass dust, having to pick between a better finish or more aggressive material removal.
Trimmable backing is not unique to the Plantex wheels, the Metabo Flapper Plus and others have a very similar backing system which when the material is worn down to the edge it’ll trim off the excess backing pad and use the other 20-40% of sanding paper towards the inside of the wheel. This style of flap disc also has a built in 5/8-11 hub to screw directly onto the grinder itself saving time and hassle of messing with hub/wrench/drops/lose/etc. Of course this will add a little $$ to the price of the wheel but should more than even out by using full material and time savings.
Why Hemp for the backing? The Plantex wheels are made of 70% hemp for the backing instead of fiberglass or some other resin. The Hemp / Polypropylene compound is super strong, absorbs heat, adds a spring like property, easily trimmable and leaves virtually zero residue. Also good for the environment, very safe to use, no harsh fumes and there is zero change anyone will get high or impaired from breathing it hemp.
Ceramic-Hybrid Grit alternating 40 & 60 removes material like a 40 grit and finishes like a 60 grit. The Ceramic component adds life to the wheel, use on all metals and controlled blending. From our testing we have been extremely impressed with this 40/60 combination it really does seem as though the single wheel can do a much wider range of applications. Can be used on steel, stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, bronze, and much more. We would not be surprised in the least to seem this become the new standard.
At a price less than $5 wheel we’ve been extremely impressed so far by the Plantex Sunfire, while we have not done much testing on stainless or other exotic metal just the fact that this wheel is so versatile, removes material so quickly and still lasts fairly long has impressed us. We’ve already put a few dozen samples out in our area and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re not ready to call it the perfect flap disc yet but we’re happy to see so much improvement in the flap disc category across the board from many manufacturers.
*** Almost did the full post without any Weed Jokes but couldn’t help ourselves ***
