WET sanding?

[MilDoc]

Many books I've read on finishing talk about wet sanding, but none so far has really described the process. The liquid used has to match the finish, I gather (ie, water for water bourne finishes, etc), but how much?

Do you flood the surface then sand? Wet the paper then sand? Is there a difference in technique for water bourne vs. others?

Help!!!

And thanks!

[atgcpaul]

I normally sand to 220 before applying finish. I wait several
days before doing the rub out. After that with water bourne or
solvent based poly, or shellac I use low odor mineral spirits as the
lubricant. I start with 320 wet/dry paper that I dip into the mineral
spirits then use it to rub out the finish to eliminate the brush/rag
marks. I even do it when I spray on a finish because I always get
dust on my project. I wipe off the residue with a rag then go to 400.
That's usually it for me; then I rub out with 0000 steel wool followed
by paste wax.

Paul

[pierhogunn]

when I wet sand, I use a spray bottle and apply enough water to cover the area, then start working on the surface to generate a slurry, once that starts to build up, I add more water or lubircant to the work area

Actually last night I did this to fog a piece of plexiglass, I didn't have spray bottle handy so I grabbed a bottle of mr-clean and water that I use to clean up around the shop, smelled nice, and did a good job with the after sanding cleaning.

Dan

[WayneJ]

I just fold up a sheet of wet or dry sand paper and keep it in a bucket of water.Thats the same way they do in a body shop. Just rinse it off as you need it.
Wayne

[bgs]

I have kitchen cabinet doors that have been painted and wet sanded. The cabinet doors are really smooth. The only problem is they have shiny areas and dull areas. How do I make the whole door shiny and still smooth without using a clear coat. My doors are white and I really don't care much for the ambering effect. Thanks.

[drumpriest]

I'd consider using polyacrylic as a clear coat on the cabinet doors, it should bond and doesn't yellow like urethaine.

[Jim Boyd]

quote:Originally posted by bgs

I have kitchen cabinet doors that have been painted and wet sanded. The cabinet doors are really smooth. The only problem is they have shiny areas and dull areas. How do I make the whole door shiny and still smooth without using a clear coat. My doors are white and I really don't care much for the ambering effect. Thanks.

Polishing compound?

[monte]

I use a spray bottle and keep the surface wet with that.

[bgs]

The polyacrylic does yellow. I used it recently on a dresser I painted white and it did. I was wondering if I should wetsand my cabinet doors some more maybe with a 600 grit wet/dry sand paper that's if it would help to even the shine. What do you think?
Thanks, bgs

[JimD]

I cannot remember wet sanding a woodworking project. I have wet sanded cars, however. I think I may have wet sanded the bulters tray table I built many years ago. Anyway, the only real trick is to make sure you have the right sandpaper. It has to be made to work wet or it will fall apart. The other thing to remember is that you have to start at 320 or 400 but then work up to much finer grit levels depending on the degree of shine desired. Very fine steel wool would give a satin or less level of shine. Gloss will require buffing with rubbing level of grit followed by polising level. Pumic and rottenstone are the tradditional rubbing/polishing agents when woodworking. I have also read reviews about using car finishing materials. That is all I ever used but that was on cars and motorcycles (and maybe one table, memory isn't the greatest anymore). It is time consuming. If you use car finishing materials, they may contain silicone which can affect woodworking finishes. It should be OK as long as the finish is throughly dry and you do not go through to bare wood. If you get to wood and get some silicone on it, you could have to strip the whole surface, sand throughly to eliminate the silicone, and start over.

Jim

[drumpriest]

You are correct, I should have said that polyacrylic doesn't yellow anywhere nearly as bad as urethane or oil "clear coats"

As for a wet sanding and rub outs, I increase my sand paper grits as I apply coats, so that there is only a small amount of rub out work to do at the end of the finishing job.