Sometimes the smaller things can make the biggest impacts on workshop efficiency. And this is no different when it comes to getting the perfect finish on a a job.
Saint-Gobain Abrasives is a global leader in the manufacturing of high-performance abrasive solutions, catering to a diverse range of industries.
With renowned brands such as Norton and Farecla under its umbrella, the company provides an extensive portfolio of cutting, grinding, masking and polishing products meticulously designed for precision and efficiency.
At the core of Saint-Gobain Abrasives’ philosophy is a steadfast commitment to innovation and sustainability, ensuring that both industrial and commercial applications benefit from top-tier performance.
Norton Amber & Azure sanding discs
In any body shop, sanding discs can represent a significant portion of consumable turnover. However, a strategic investment in quality can yield substantial returns in terms of reduced wastage and valuable time savings. Norton, a widely trusted brand from Saint-Gobain, has introduced two new sanding disc ranges, the Azure Film Q216 and Amber A293 series, aimed at enhancing workplace efficiency and profitability without compromising the quality of the final job.
The key to their effectiveness lies in their superior quality: these discs are harder wearing, experience less clogging, and offer fast cut rates. This translates to a more reliable disc, fewer changeovers, and less need for rework. Consequently, fewer discs are consumed, and critically, technicians spend less time on each sanding job. Studies indicate that while consumables constitute about nine percent of a workshop’s cost on an average repair job, abrasives account for less than a tenth of that. In contrast, labour can average as much as 45 percent of the job’s overall costs, with nearly a third of this time spent using abrasives. Any increased investment in quality abrasive consumables that successfully cuts labour time has the potential to deliver savings at a remarkable ratio of more than twenty to one.
Optimal durability with Azure Film
The Norton Azure Film is positioned as Norton’s premium offering, promising a host of features and benefits. Unlike conventional paper discs that may not sand dead flat and can wear away quickly on edges and contours, the film disc maintains its strength, allowing for consistent work even in challenging areas.
The Azure Film disc features a polyester film backing and utilizes P-graded premium aluminium oxide with ceramic, ensuring extra durability with minimal clogging and fewer changeovers. This polyester backing not only adds strength, resisting tearing, but also provides the flexibility needed to conform to the contours and uneven surfaces increasingly common in modern automotive panels. The film backing gives you a flatter surface than paper backing, which creates better grain retention and less edge wear than you see on a paper backed disc. The blend of premium aluminium oxide with ceramic results in a faster cut that sands flat and produces a consistent scratch pattern, further saving time and reducing rework.
The Azure Film discs are designed to resist clogging, using a water-based stearate No-Fil® coating, specially developed to shed particles, enhance efficiency, and prolong the disc’s life. The hook and loop Speed-grip backing facilitates easy and quick changeovers, particularly beneficial when multiple sanding steps are required. These discs cut consistently for maximum productivity, delivering a uniform, precise finish across a range of surfaces including primed or painted surfaces, wood, composites, aluminium, and ferrous metals.
Value performance with Amber
Norton’s Amber series sanding discs serve as the workhorse for any body shop. Designed for dry sanding, these discs feature a more economical paper backing that has been reinforced with latex to ensure flexibility and durability. Similar to the Azure Film series, the Amber series also employs the special No-Fil® coatings to minimize interruptions from clogging and reduce the need for frequent changeovers. Keeping these discs clog-free extends their life and reduces wastage, which is particularly important for workshops with high disc turnover. The hook & loop Speed-grip backing ensures easy and quick disc changes when needed. The Amber series also uses P-graded premium aluminium oxide abrasives, producing a quick, cool cut and a more consistent surface finish. They are suitable for use on primed or painted surfaces, wood, composites, aluminium, and ferrous metals.
Farecla G360 Premium Polishing Systems
Every skilled body technician strives for a perfect finish, while every business owner is concerned with the time and resources required to achieve it. Farecla has channelled its experience and innovation into developing the G360 Super Fast system, a solution that delivers the high-quality results workshops demand while also saving time, energy, and product. The G360 system is not only fast and easy to use but also eliminates the need for P3000 abrasive paper, reducing product usage and providing significant overall cost savings.
Farecla’s commitment is to deliver top-quality results while making the finishing process faster, easier, and more sustainable. Leveraging its expertise in complete finishing systems, trusted in workshops globally, Farecla has introduced innovations that remove steps from the traditional finishing process. Their compounds employ engineered abrasive technology, developed in their dedicated research and development facility using the highest quality raw materials. This ensures that the abrasive particles quickly, efficiently, and permanently remove defects such as scratches, sanding marks, swirls, holograms, and oxidation. While fillers can wash away or degrade with weather, causing defects to reappear, Farecla’s abrasive technology systems provide a permanent finish, avoiding the need for reworks.
Fast, easy steps
toward perfection
Testing conducted by Farecla has demonstrated that the G360 Superfast system can offer considerable savings in the finishing process. The cumulative savings in time, product, and energy for every finishing job contribute to substantial improvements in workshop processes, aiding efficiency and potential profitability. Farecla’s testing has shown the G360 system to be up to 48 percent faster than competing systems, consume up to 42 percent less energy, and require up to 56 percent less polish.
How it works
The G360 system streamlines the polishing process into simple steps:
Step 1: High Cut: The G360 Super Fast Compound used in this stage eliminates the need for P3000 sanding discs, a groundbreaking advancement that offers multiple benefits. When used with the recommended G Mop Super High Cut Pad (GMC650), it provides a super-fast cutting action that permanently removes P1500 sanding marks. The compound is transparent in use, allowing technicians clear visibility as scratches are removed. It is also a waterless process incorporating easy glide technology, ensuring good handling and faster polishing.
Step 2: Medium Cut: During this stage, the G360 Super Fast Compound continues to deliver a fast-cutting action. Utilizing a recommended applicator like the G Mop Flexible Yellow Compounding Foam, it permanently removes process marks such as swirls and holograms. This step maintains the benefits of easy visibility and excellent handling, allowing for fast polishing to achieve an excellent high-gloss finish on light colours and preparing dark colours for a fine cut finish.
Step 3: Optional Fine Cut: For technicians seeking an ultra-high gloss finish, particularly on dark colours, the G360 Super Fast Finish is the ideal choice for the final step. This product, used with the G Mop 6” Flexible Finishing Foam, effectively eliminates swirl marks while enhancing the gloss level. It is also transparent in use and requires minimal wiping, thus limiting contact with the perfected surface.
Farecla offers the G360 Super Fast Polishing System in various kits to suit different needs.
For more information, users can visit farecla.com/product-range-g360.