tried a couple of 3M Bristle-disks

[Raul]

You know the spend-O-licious ones that 3M sells
I got 4 of them for my Metabo 4.5" angle grinder; a couple of green 50 grit and a couple of the yellow 80 grit ones

Prior I've used different brands of those abrasive discs that are (what's the word for everywhere) ubiquitous. Yah, that's the three dollar word I wanted Ubiquitous.
There's a certain ubiquity of those friggin abrasive discs, man like they are everywhere. And I hate 'em. I've tried a Router motor speed reducer to slow the burn and fail rate ( sort of works - - sort of), I've tried wire brushing them to get the gunk build-up off. I use one for a lousy few minutes and it's gone - - just like that it's loaded up it's burned it's dirty. Gotta toss it throw it in a box to be used only on paint or crud that I don't care about being clean.

Well, I digress.

I used 'em on paint - several layers of oil and latex - and rust all on steel
There's no comparison between the bristle discs compared to the abrasive discs
The bristle discs don't load up, don't burn, don't break down, after using them a while they are as if they were brand spanking new every time.

They do wear. They have a life span and when it's gone, so a is the disc. But until the bristles are gone, the disc is like brand new every time you put it to the work.

Worth the hunnert dollars I spent?
I'll get back to you on this.

[K6090]

There's also coating removal discs, though they are pricey and wear down quickly. http://s1089.photobucket.com/user/Ab...Strip.jpg.html

[tx1ton]

I was eyeing those Bristle discs too....good to hear they work well. I have used the surface conditioning Roloc discs and like them a lot but man, they wear out fast. Might have to try the BD's!

[M J D]

In my opinion you may as well try using a 10 dollar bill as an abrasive as those things. They work good for a very short while, but they aren't any better than a wire wheel which will outlast it at least 10 fold. The drawback to wire wheels is the occasional flying strand. This is one of those applications where there really are no good solutions, with possibly the exception of abrasive blasting.

[Sputter Fizzle]

I was going to start this thread if you did not start it first. I have some 1x3 11 ga tubing that was sitting in my shop for the last 14 years and a project came up for it, all TIG. I thought it would be a whole lot faster to clean both 12 footers before cutting. 80 grit on a Fesstool rotary sander, about 3000 rpm to keep the dust in check (it has a vac hooked up) It shined up only the high spots, not much else and almost useless on the edge. Not very fast either.
Then I saw the 3M disks and ordered a 36 grit one to try out, $25.00. Wow it was fast. 80 sandpaper grit did diddly squat on the seam side of the tubing. 3M disk just ate it up. First thing I noticed was a slight metal taste within seconds of using it. Made short work of cleaning the tubing so it almost looked like stainless. I checked the bristles for wear and they seem to have a bit of melt going on, exposing fresh abrasive? Or quicker wear? Next day I picked up a Dewalt 7" buffer with variable speed. I ran the disk at 600 rpm. Did not work as fast but still very very good and the dust stayed near the machine instead of getting thrown about like in a 12,000 rpm machine. No signs of melting bristles now and cannot tell if the bristles are getting shorter compared to the new ones I just bought. Well worth the investment.
I also ordered some of the 6" discs that go on a bench grinder and tried them on another buffer for hand held use. Not so impressive but still worked.

[mikecwik]

I have used the style in the photobucket image and I did not care much for them. I have some other unitized wheels for deburring an and they seem to work quite well on paint. I am glad I don't mess with paint much.

[Heartdoc]

I just tried out the 36-grit ones tonight. Yes, they are expensive, and I cannot attest to how long they will last, but all I can say is that these disks take off mill scale very quickly. They leave a bright shiny surface which is much much smoother than a grinding disk. It took mill scale off 11/2" flat stock in a single pass, which is something I can't do with a flap disk. I also tried it on some angle that had been painted over and it took care of that very easily as well. Time will tell as far as longevity, but for me the time savings alone seems worthwhile. I should state that I am strictly a novice hobbyist and if I had a production shop I might feel differently.

[tx1ton]

Just tried some this past weekend as well, like them so far. I only had a few free minutes but they cleaned up some old painted and rusty angle in nothing flat for me...no sign of wear either.

[Sputter Fizzle]

I have been using mine a lot since I first posted. The bristles are just about 3/4 long on a new dick. I have about 1/32 wear so far, compared to a new one I bought just for stainless. Still just as aggressive as a new one.

[Raul]

I've got wire wheels. I have a contamination problem with them.
They get dirty and spread the dirt. The metal looks clean, but isn't.
I try to TIG and I get messiness.

[arcflash]

I use the Norton ones from fleet farm. Less expensive and hold up good in the right situation.

[soutthpaw]

They are the go to choice of pro mechanics for cleaning gasket surfaces like heads, intakes etc. They are impregnated with ceramic

[Raul]

Well after using them and the flap discs back and forth I can say they do a great job on paint.
They do a nice job de-scaling steel that is not terribly pitted.
They leave a nicer surface than a flap disk
But they don't remove metal as fast as a flap disc so If the metal is deeply pitted like a lot of angle is they don't get the scale out of the pits and I ended up using a flap disc which is way faster at that.