Which Flap Disc Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 6 flap disc options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Makita
Price shown in test: a little more than $4.59 each, sold in a pack of five
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Weight | Grit | Sandpaper area | Test 1 metal removed (5 lb weight, single short pass) | Test 2 metal removed (10 lb weight, doubled run time) | Total metal removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Warrior | 71 grams, lightest of all 6 | 36 grit (all other brands tested at 40 grit) | 42.3 square inches, least of all 6 | 8 grams (1,008g to 1,000g) | 4 grams (1,000g to 996g) | 12 grams |
| 2Makitaa little more than $4.59 each, sold in a pack of five | 89 grams | 40 grit | 48.1 square inches | 21 grams (1,024g to 1,003g), narrator notes this is more than twice the Warrior's test 1 removal but came with more wheel wear | 7 grams (1,003g to 996g) | 28 grams, most of any brand tested |
| 3Walter | 90 grams | 40 grit | 53.9 square inches | 10 grams (1,005g to 995g) | 4 grams, starting weight 995g (matches test 1 end weight); transcript states 'it removed four grams on the first test' but this phrase directly follows the 995g test-2 starting weight and contradicts the already-established test 1 figure of 10 grams, so it is read as describing test 2's result with a narration slip on 'first test' rather than a second, different test 1 number | 14 grams |
| 4Diablo | 103 grams, second heaviest | 40 grit | 65.6 square inches, most of any brand tested | 14 grams (1,007g to 993g) | 9 grams (993g to 984g); transcript mangles the brand name to 'job will' in this passage, resolved to Diablo because the stated starting weight (993g) matches Diablo's own test 1 ending weight exactly, and no other brand's test 1 ending weight matches | 23 grams, second most of any brand tested |
| 5DeWaltalmost $9 (paid at a big box store) | 79 grams, second lightest | 40 grit | not explicitly stated (narrator only says it contains about 10 percent more material than Warrior's 42.3 sq in, which is not verbatim enough to convert to a figure; left null) | 6 grams, derived: transcript gives the test 1 starting weight as 1,041g but never states the test 1 ending weight; test 2 for this brand explicitly starts at 1,035g (a passage that also mangles the brand as 'do i'll'/'dowhat' but self-identifies mid-sentence as 'the DeWalt'), and every other brand's test 2 starting weight exactly equals its own test 1 ending weight, so the test 1 loss is derived as 1,041g minus 1,035g = 6 grams; flagged as a cross-referenced derivation, not a directly stated figure | 6 grams (1,035g to 1,029g) | 12 grams, derived total based on the test 1 cross-reference above |
| 6Nortonmost expensive brand tested (no specific dollar figure stated in the transcript) | 122 grams, heaviest of all 6 | 40 grit | second most of any brand tested, only beaten by Diablo (no specific square-inch figure stated) | 9 grams (1,013g to 1,004g) | 6 grams (1,004g to 998g) | 15 grams |
How it was tested
- test 1: 5 lb weight on a pivoting-arm grinder, single short (roughly 1 minute) pass on 3/16in rusty steel, metal weighed before/after to measure material removed
- test 2: same steel piece flipped over, run for twice as long with twice the weight (10 lb) to test heat/pressure endurance, metal weighed before/after
- physical wear/wheel condition comparison (new vs. used disc) after both tests
- flap disc weight (grams) and total sandpaper surface area (square inches) comparison
Data notes and caveats
No single winner is declared; the closing summary makes a case for three different brands depending on priority: Makita for best value/most material removed (but with the most wheel wear), Diablo for best overall balance of removal and low wear, and Walter plus Norton as top contenders for low wear and trimmable design. Narrator explicitly dislikes DeWalt (overpriced for the brand, twice the cost of Makita for similar material) and Warrior (poor design, overpriced even at its low sticker price) as brands to avoid. Two metal-removal figures (DeWalt test 1, Walter test 2) were not directly stated as clean before/after pairs in the transcript and were reconstructed via weight continuity between test 1's ending weight and test 2's stated starting weight for the same brand, a method that resolved cleanly and is noted per-product; this is why confidence is medium rather than high despite otherwise clean, brand-consistent data (all 6 brands matched the description's Products Tested list with no unresolved mangled names).