What Is the Definition of Coated Abrasives?

A coated abrasive is produced by bonding abrasive grains to a flexible substrate using adhesives. Commonly used substrates include paper, cloth, vulcanized fiber, and plastic films and the grit sizes range from very coarse (~2 mm) to ultrafine (submicrometre). The international standard for coated abrasives is ISO 6344.

Coated abrasives are often referred to as “sandpaper” although they are not made with sand and most often are not backed with paper. Coated abrasives are formed by gluing natural and synthetic abrasive grains. Abrasive grains include aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, zirconia alumina, garnet and emery. Backing materials include paper, cloth, fiber and polyester film. The coated abrasives are manufactured in “jumbo” rolls then cut into different shapes such as belts, discs, rolls and sheets for surface-treatment and polishing applications in markets such as the furniture, lumber, cabinet, boat, automotive, welding, foundry, jewelry, and do-it-yourself markets.

Sanding rolls and sanding belts are ordinary coated abrasives for hand use, usually for non-precision operation. These two kinds are considered by general public as the representative coated abrasives. Other coated abrasive forms include sanding sheets, sanding discs, flap discs, flap wheels and specialties. iAbrasive set a full range of available attributes for users to search the needed products quickly and accurately, including the backing type, abrasive grain, available grits and bonding agent, etc.

The first recorded use of a coated abrasive is from the 13th Century, when the Chinese sea shells are crushed and bonded onto the parchment with natural gum.