wet or dry?

[DWFII]

I have been intrigued by the possibilities of wet or dry sanding. I even went out and bought a selection of wet-or-dry sheets from my local Ace Hardware. But I found that in some (many...all?) cases the dark grit of the wet-or-dry migrates to the wood...discolouring light woods especially if they are somewhat porous.

Am I using the wrong product? Am I using the right product wrong?

And a follow-up, if I may...can a piece of wet-or-dry that has been used with tung oil or Waterlox be "washed" and used again?

DW
In the High Desert of Central Oregon

 

[Dr_dewey]

wet sand finish

i will use good quality wet/dry SP on my finishes to smooth it out, when wet the slurry lubricates and controls heating. Best on WB lacquer.

have had varied success with wet sanding wet wood, a lot of cloging occurs.

 

[DWFII]

Doc,

Is the wet/dry you use black? Would you use it on a light coloured wood like Maple?

Does anyone use wet/dry for sanding like with tung oil or Watco?


DW
In the High Desert of Central Oregon

 

[TEK]

wet sanding

If you are sanding with oil as a lubricant, most sandpapers work. If you use water as the lubricant it dissolves the glue on some types, so its better to stick to those sold as wet and dry. With oil as a lubricant I've used Klingspore Stearate coated paper, Norton 3X, the shop rolls of 1" wide aluminum oxide paper, and wet and dry. I haven't had a problem with any of them. I prefer shelac, lacquer, or acrylic finishes on very light colored woods. They do not darken them as much as oil finishes do.

 

[Steve Worcester]

The only reason I can see to use wet or dry is to cut down on friction (heat) and to cut down on build up on the paper.

If you use a stearate coated paper, it will cut down on the build up. Add to that a crepe block and that will help out considerably.
What to use as a lubricant may depend on the final finish. For instance, you would not want to use wax if you are going to use a water based finish or maybe even shellac or lacquer possibly.
If you use water as a lubricant, you would have to allow it to dry sufficiently before the finish is applied.

There are several light colored papers that go up over 1000 grit and would withstand water as a lubricant. Many would also work with wax, but not long term as several of the waxes use tolulene or some spirits as a thinner or suspension agent.

 

[DWFII]

There are several light colored papers that go up over 1000 grit and would withstand water as a lubricant. Many would also work with wax, but not long term as several of the waxes use tolulene or some spirits as a thinner or suspension agent.

Steve,

Which papers are those and where could I find them?

thanks


DW
In the High Desert of Central Oregon

 

[Fred in NC]

Is it really WET/dry?

Some papers that look like wet/dry are obviously not. If buying from an old fashioned hardware store, where they sell single sheets from a rack, I would buy one and try using it with water on some scrap.

I have purchased some virtually useless paper. Usually they don't have a brand name Some countries are exporting some awful paper, and the grit markings are not what we use in the US, so they are coarser that we would expect. Some of it loses the grit in seconds.

 

[TEK]

sometimes fan of wet sanding

I wasn't hot on the idea of wet sanding, but I read a lot of posts from people who like it. So I decided to try it. Negatives 1. Mess 2. Harder to reuse sandpaper 3.the sludge fills pores which could cause color to bleed from one area to another. 4. Oil finishes darken light colored wood. Positives 1. Very little if no dust in the air 2. The sludge fills pores. It acts as grain filler and helps get a smooth finish faster. 3. Oil darkens the wood and brings out the grain patterns.
As you can see some of my positives and negatives are the same. It depends on which wood you are using and what appearance you are tying to achieve. I'm just starting to experiment with this. I was trying out the Mike Mahoney Walnut Oil and figured I'd try to wet sand with it as well as finish with it. That seems to work well on woods tht I like an oil finish on. On woods that I don't like and oil finish on, Box Elder for example, I like to use thinned lacquer based sanding sealer between grits for grits finer than 220. It helps fill the pores, but since you let it dry before you sand it doesn't transfer color from one area to another like wet sanding can.

 

[TEK]

example

Here are two Box Elder Bowls from the same tree. One is finished in Lacquer the other in Walnut Oil and wet sanded.

 

[Hugh]

I took a class awhile back and a fellow in the class used to use denatured alcohol for his sanding on wet wood. He put it in a spray bottle and would spray the wood and the paper. He said it worked. I came home and tried it using some Klingspor sandpaper (from the 20# box) and it worked as long as you kept spraying the alcohol. It seemed to me to work like using water and wet sanding on the bowl. I tried that. Water is cheaper than DNA. I put a towel on the bed of the lathe and with water in a spray bottle will spray the bowl and the sandpaper. I think it works well. It does make a mess though. You will find a wet stripe going up your wall and you do get wet. If you keep it wet enough the sand paper does not get clogged. I use it on bowls that I am not going to re-turn after they are dry. The dust level in my shop is much better since I started this process. I still sand the bowl/vessel after it has dried by hand. I have done it on wet sycamore and do not find that I get a coloring problem from the wet sanding. Clean off the sandpaper after you are finished and use it on the next bowl. I find I do not use nearly as much sandpaper as when I just sand the bowl dry.
Hugh