Wet sanding

[Anne Ogg]

I saw a reference to wet sanding in a post. When I tried it, the wood developed mildew in a short period of time (hours). It was kiln dried maple. My shop is not air conditioned. I tried bleach to remove it, and it eliminated some of the spots but not all. Am ready to give up. Advice?

 

[Darryl Fective]

I've heard of wet sanding green wood to (try to) prevent paper from clogging up. Kiln dried wood I sand normally and don't wet sand until I have a few coats of poly applied.
I've had some blotchy black stains on different pieces show up and somebody said it was a reaction to metal particles that got into the wood. I'm wondering if you have more of a chemical reaction than a mildew issue. Either way, it's got to be frustrating.

 

[Marc Banka]

Ahh, nice and moist in Asheville!
Sad about the mildew. In another thread, @Michael Anderson has had good outcome using Barkeepers Wonder. I doubt I have the name right.

What was your goal in trying wet sanding? I’ve tried it and found it useless for my work. It makes a mess, and its purpose seems to be to intentionally fill the pores with sawdust. Other folks try their best to keep the pores clean. I’m in the latter camp.

 

[Anne Ogg]

I've heard of wet sanding green wood to (try to) prevent paper from clogging up. Kiln dried wood I sand normally and don't wet sand until I have a few coats of poly applied.
I've had some blotchy black stains on different pieces show up and somebody said it was a reaction to metal particles that got into the wood. I'm wondering if you have more of a chemical reaction than a mildew issue. Either way, it's got to be frustrating.

Ah, it may have been the steel wool.

 

[Anne Ogg]

Ahh, nice and moist in Asheville!
Sad about the mildew. In another thread, @Michael Anderson has had good outcome using Barkeepers Wonder. I doubt I have the name right.

What was your goal in trying wet sanding? I’ve tried it and found it useless for my work. It makes a mess, and its purpose seems to be to intentionally fill the pores with sawdust. Other folks try their best to keep the pores clean. I’m in the latter camp.

We might be considered a rain forest with the amount of rain we get!

I thought I would give it a try - probably in a hurry, never a good reason to try something new. I doubt I will try it again, but would love to have a solution to removing the mildew other than setting the whole thing on fire!

 

[Darryl Fective]

Apply some lemon juice and see if that helps.

 

[robo hippy]

Lemon juice is for removing metal stains. If you get it right away, it takes seconds. If you wait a couple of days, it can take an hour or so. Best to use the synthetic steel wool pads. As for wet sanding, it does keep the dust down. Most of the time it is done with the finish, so like the Danish type oils or for me, walnut oil. What I didn't like about it was the sludge would fill in tear out holes and I wouldn't see them till I was wiping off the bowl. I only dry sand, and made a sanding hood that lets me sand mask free and nothing up my nose. I did a video on that. I have heard that the abrasives would last longer. Not sure about that. I would not use water. I would still get all the sanding done first, up to 220 or so, then when polishing out the scratches, I would go to the wet sanding with finish.

robo hippy

 

[Michael Anderson]

In another thread, @Michael Anderson has had good outcome using Barkeepers Wonder.

Very close. Bar Keeper’s Friend. It works wonders, and only costs around $3 for a large supply. Here is a link to instructions by Chris Ramsey:

Chris Ramsey, Woodturner - Removing Rust Stains from Wood

 

[Richard Coers]

Wet sand with mineral spirits is an option. Also a drop or two of Dawn liquid can also help when wet sanding with water. It sounds like you used a lot of water. Just dip your abrasive in a bowl of water to make it damp. It's not like wet sanding a car paint job when working on wood!

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

This photo is a method I have been using for many years on end grain goblet forms. The only reason I use wet sanding is anything else will clog up due to the fact that the only way to success is starting with wood as green as possible. The form is done very thin to allow distortion instead of checking and that means sanding the inside of the cup after drying is extremely difficult. The half round shield has the evidence of just how messy it can get.

 

[Terry Vaughan]

I sand lignum vitae with water. It stops the abrasive clogging and goes much quicker. But it makes a lot of mess.

 

[Anne Ogg]

Thanks for all the help. I am sure I saw wet sanding on wet wood, and of course I was using it on kiln dried cherry. I ended up torching the outside. I'll post a photo when it's finished. Thanks again!