3M Trizact or Mirka Abralon discs

[Whitewater25]

3M Trizact discs or Mirka Abralon discs. Is either one better than the other? I've used the 3M discs but haven't tried the Mirka yet. Wondering if one is better that the other. In reading up on them, they seem very similar.

[Mike Phillips]

3M Trizact discs or Mirka Abralon discs. Is either one better than the other? I've used the 3M discs but haven't tried the Mirka yet. Wondering if one is better that the other. In reading up on them, they seem very similar.

I tend to use the 3M Trizact for car paint and expensive projects and use the Mirka Abralon for gel-coat boats, headlights and less expensive car projects.


They are VERY different in how they are made. The abrasives for the Trizact are embodied in a medium of some sort, as you sand the medium wears down and abrasives are exposed.

The abrasives for the Abralon are attached to a mesh like material that allows water and even paint particulates to flow through it.

[JustJesus]

I've used the Mirka's and loved them. I'm sure they would be even better when used with an extractor of sorts, to take advantage of the flow-through design.

I was looking at Trizacts or Megs Unigrit(?) at the time, but the Megs were no longer avail. The Trizacts are kind of expensive, and I'm not a pro, so I was looking at savings where possible. I tried the Mirka's as they were cheaper overall.

Both will work fine. If the cost isn't important, stick with what you know and are used to???

I have a short review over on Autopia, but not sure if I'm allowed to link that here. Maybe you can google JustJesus Mirka Abralon Sanding.

[Bruno Soares]

I can't speak from experience on car paint, never sanded anything. But I'm a bowler and I do resurface my bowling balls and for that we use mostly Abralon pads. There's also another option that is very similar to Abralon but lasts longer, that's called Siaair pads. I believe those are made by Brunswick. They are thinner and retain less water than Abralon but the "grit" of the pad will last longer. Abralon wears out pretty quick on bowling balls. I'm sure car paint is softer and doesn't make it deteriorate as fast

[Route246]

I can't speak from experience on car paint, never sanded anything. But I'm a bowler and I do resurface my bowling balls and for that we use mostly Abralon pads. There's also another option that is very similar to Abralon but lasts longer, that's called Siaair pads. I believe those are made by Brunswick. They are thinner and retain less water than Abralon but the "grit" of the pad will last longer. Abralon wears out pretty quick on bowling balls. I'm sure car paint is softer and doesn't make it deteriorate as fast

I retired from bowling 20 years ago due to thumb problems. 3 treys, 1 800 and did not shame myself in regional events but my thumb was going to need serious surgery if I didn't quit. My thumb is almost back to normal size now. Still have 5 balls and 3 pairs of custom Linds in the garage loft, can't bring myself to toss them. Got rid of all of the trophies except for one, they just take up too much space and collect too much dust. Bowling balls are mostly reactive resin these days, right?

[Bruno Soares]

I retired from bowling 20 years ago due to thumb problems. 3 treys, 1 800 and did not shame myself in regional events but my thumb was going to need serious surgery if I didn't quit. My thumb is almost back to normal size now. Still have 5 balls and 3 pairs of custom Linds in the garage loft, can't bring myself to toss them. Got rid of all of the trophies except for one, they just take up too much space and collect too much dust. Bowling balls are mostly reactive resin these days, right?

Yes, though urethane has made a come back recently due to lack of oil or short patterns in some houses. Overall equipment has evolved a lot and scores have gone up.

[Route246]

Yes, though urethane has made a come back recently due to lack of oil or short patterns in some houses. Overall equipment has evolved a lot and scores have gone up.

I never felt comfortable with the scores going up so much. I'm a big fan of sport bowling. I had a few opportunities to throw on some PBA regional patterns and it was pretty tough, 15 pins or so tougher than the house shot I was used to. Anyway, it is interesting how a bowling ball surface transcends to car paint. Never would have figured that much.

[mwoywod]

I use both.

I buy Mirka Abralon 1000 & 2000

I also buy Trizact 1500 & 3000

Trizact works significantly better and cuts longer.

Mirka 1000 is great for heavy oxidation on headlights and Mirka 2000 have a foam interface and are soft which makes them great when working on contoured panels compared to Trizact 1500 which cuts amazing but removes a ton of paint in a hurry.

[howardm4]

Maybe the Trizact is better in the hands of an experienced 'driver' since it's more aggressive. There is the 3M 05771 (3") interface pad for the Trizact.

I have yet to find Trizact via mail-order that wasn't a $50 box of them in all one grit.

[mwoywod]

Maybe the Trizact is better in the hands of an experienced 'driver' since it's more aggressive. There is the 3M 05771 (3") interface pad for the Trizact.

I have yet to find Trizact via mail-order that wasn't a $50 box of them in all one grit.

Trizact is extremely expensive and honestly if I wasn't a professional, I would probably only buy mirka abralon. I went through 4 boxes of 6" Trizact 1500 & another 5 boxes of 6" Trizact 3000 grit in 2017 alone. I also went through several boxes of the 3" versions. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent $1,000 in Trizact sanding discs last year alone.

And yes, years ago when I first started wet sanding re-painted classic cars I wish I would have known about Mirka Abralon. Trizact 3000 grit is relatively easy to use and even if you're not experienced with wet-sanding I think it'd be difficult to do too much damage. But, Trizact 1500 removes paint so rapidly that it's incredibly difficult to see through the slurry of material you create during the wet-sanding process, making it less than ideal for guys without much sanding experience.

As for the interface pad. I use either the 3" or 6" 3m interface pad for ALL my wet sanding. I even use it with Mirka Abralon discs which have a foam interface and for Trizact 3000 grit discs. The foam interface creates a much smoother and less aggressive sanding process.

Also, I know Mike has an article somewhere that talks about finding the sweet spot with the amount of water sprayed onto the panel when wet-sanding. He is completely accurate in suggesting only using a very light mist of water and refers to the process as damps sanding, otherwise the abrasive grit of the sanding disc will hydroplane over the surface and will reduce the bite of the sanding disc removing less material.

If you don't have a ton of experience with machine wet-sanding, not only should you absolutely use a foam interface BUT you should also spray more water on the surface, reducing the aggressiveness, at least until you are more comfortable.