# To wet sand or Not to wet sand



## jpc2334 (Jul 11, 2016)

I know everyone has their own methods and generally people say you should do what works for you.  I was reading another thread and it made me think of something.  When using MM at the end...Do you wet sand or dry sand?  Someone mentioned they only dry sand not to introduce water into the wood.  I have always wet sanded but I also use nylon bushings and do my best to get the CA around the ends to coat the wood right to the brass tube.  I dont apply an excessive amount that is stops the tubes from sitting flush with the pen parts but just enough to seal the wood.  I was thinking if the wood is exposed and then you wet sand, do you think it would cause the wood to dry out down the road and crack?


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## SteveG (Jul 11, 2016)

You presented more than one issue. Response a little long 'cause details matter: 
1. Wet sand on wood?  I do so with every wooden pen blank to which I have applied CA finish. To do this without introducing moisture to the wood, I start the CA finish process by making a small puddle of THIN CA on a small, discarded component parts bag. Dip one end of the "ready-for-finish" blank into the CA, then forcefully shake off the excess onto the floor. Repeat for the other end. After a moment, repeat the process for both ends. Then, when dry, scrape the inside of the tube end with a razor knife to clear any CA from the tube/tube end. The wood part of the end is now well sealed. Continue with CA finish process. When ready for wet sanding/MM phase, do so with minimum "wetness" on the MM pad. 

Important note: All steps are done with cone shaped finishing bushes on a short mandrel. This means no residual CA coating the end of the blank is contacting the bushes. This could be done equally effectively between centers. The contact surfaces are the parts that I cleared with the knife meaning the blank runs smoothly during the process. 

Only AFTER the wet sanding do I remove any excess CA from the wood ends of the blank, maximizing the sealing effect up to this point, but now obtaining in a good fit to the hardware. 

2. The answer to the second part of your question is that no matter what finish process you use, the finished wood pen (blank) WILL seek and reach equilibrium moisture content with the environment. You cannot prevent that, only slow it down. The best approach is to always start with well seasoned wood, and ideally wood that is at equilibrium with the environment where the pen will ultimately reside. (Nearly impossible in many cases, as you may not know where the pen is going to be, if you sell your pens.) Making a pen from very dry wood is the best approach, since a wood pen GAINING moisture is generally less troublesome than a pen loosing moisture, as far as potential for cracking to occur.

Some turners elect to avoid wood as a pen material. Others educate themselves as to which woods are more dimensionally stable than others, and then favor using the more stable woods.

Happy turning!


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## jttheclockman (Jul 11, 2016)

I always wet sand any blank. Always will. I seal the ends of wood blanks these are so simple steps to do it takes no extra time or effort.


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## 1080Wayne (Jul 11, 2016)

Minor addition to Steve`s excellent answer . After Micromeshing , let the pen barrel sit for a day or two before assembly . Inspect carefully under a low angle light . You may see areas where the gloss is low - hopefully none , but don`t bet on it . They tell you that you have successfully sanded through the CA finish in that area . Which means you will get some more practice in finishing .


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## Wildman (Jul 11, 2016)

Think have to make a judgment call based upon finished surface!  Talking about pen barrel(s) already applied finish too.    If finished surface good proceed to wet sand  & polish.  

If find flaws in the finish surface another judgment call needed will wet sanding take care of the problem or do you need to dry sand & put another coat of finish on.  

Now if you are talking about using micro mesh to sand dry wood not sure want  to wet sand.


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## TonyL (Jul 11, 2016)

I used to...now I don't, nor do I use MM. I used to, but I got lazy and bored with wet sanding (but the results were very good). In my case, I achieved the same results with drying sanding to 2000, then buffing wheels. Not implying that what I do is the way to go. I take that back. I do wet sand with MM, M3 and Trustone, but acrylic and CA finishes are sanded dry. Not anti-wet sanding. I just find it boring and without merit in my case in light of buffing.


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## jttheclockman (Jul 11, 2016)

Wildman said:


> Think have to make a judgment call based upon finished surface!  Talking about pen barrel(s) already applied finish too.    If finished surface good proceed to wet sand  & polish.
> 
> If find flaws in the finish surface another judgment call needed will wet sanding take care of the problem or do you need to dry sand & put another coat of finish on.
> 
> Now if you are talking about using micro mesh to sand dry wood not sure want  to wet sand.



Wet sanding will not bring up a slurry to fill in divots or scratches. That is not the purpose. Wet sanding is to lubricate the sandpaper which will help it last longer. It also helps glide the sandpaper or in this case MM easier. 

As seen here some dry sand and some wet sand. Your call. As far as dry sanding before adding another coat of CA is not needed. 

Do not wet sand bare wood. You are adding moisture and problems to the blank. Either dry sand or sand with an oil such as lemon oil or a danish oil.

I do not buff any pen blanks but it is just another way to get a shine and some have had good success with it. We had a member here that swore by the buffing method YO YO Spin or (Ed Davidson )


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## MTViper (Jul 12, 2016)

I'm with Tony on this one.  I tried wet sanding and one day I was out of water so I dry sanded.  I saw no difference in the finished product.  I only wet sanded acrylics, never unfinished wood.  For me, I get excellent results dry sanding so I won't go back to wet sanding - YMMV.


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## Wood Butcher (Jul 12, 2016)

The method you use that works is the best you will find.
WB


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## ZbR (Jul 13, 2016)

It seems there are two situations: sanding unfinished wood and sanding wood treated with CA finish or any other. 
When finishing bare wood wet sanding will lead to immediate sandpaper clogging. I do use water when sanding unfinished wood to raise the grain. I apply water scarcely and wait till it dries. Grain raises (you can fell it by hand) and I try to cut it with finishing sandpaper only this raised grain and not the wood. This operation makes the surface not to look finally "muddy".
When sanding CA/lacquer/shellack finished wood I use water as a lubricant. Sandpapers above 200 grit will otherwise clog quickly. I just rinse sandpaper in water to get rid of dust, I clean sanded surface with paper towel and continue sanding with wet paper. This allows me to better observe the polished surface and to avoid cutting through finishing layer (which is disastrous). Water makes sandpaper cut slower what makes things easier. Other lubricants can be used too. Paraffin oil is very good one, this one makes sandpaper cut even slower.


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## nativewooder (Jul 13, 2016)

I made it simple!  I only wetsanded my finish.  Never put moisture on raw wood unless it was for a specific purpose, like putting out a fire!


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## Wildman (Jul 13, 2016)

Sorry for the confusion: 

I only wet sand & polish with micro mesh if finish is good to go!  Wet sanding with micro mesh may or may not take care of problem you see!  There are times you have to revert to dry sanding with sandpaper to remove flaws in a finish, then apply another coat of finish  or more and let dry.  Then proceed to wet sand/polish with micro mesh. 
What you are trying to accomplish with wet sanding/polishing with micro mesh is finish the finish or rub out a finish!  I assume you are using a film finish which includes CA. Adding a drop of dish washing soap to water helps break surface tension when wet sanding/polishing process. 

No you don't always have to wet sand/polish to achieve an acceptable finish.  It's always a personal choice, and after reading post here there are other procedures that work just as well.  

Before micro mesh used silicon carbide wet/dry paper to finish the finish.  Before that used mineral oil & pumice & rotten stone to finish a finish, you definitely don't want to use this procedure on a pen or other turnings!  

Yes some folks talk about filling pores of wood  or doing like John T mentioned from dust or slurry generated during sanding process but not me!  I think that is BS!


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## Chasper (Jul 13, 2016)

For wood and antler I don't use micro mesh, not wet, not dry; none.  I finish with CA and immediately, I really mean immediately while it is still hot from the CA, I buff with white diamond only.  The CA is hard, but not fully cured when I buff, any fine lines from applying CA get buffed away.

I only make several hundred wood and antler pen in a year and I like the results I get.  I make a few thousand resin pens in a year and I use wet micro mesh on all of them.  Then I buff them with three graduated wheels, it's overkill, but it makes a great looking pen.  I would rather overkill on a lot of pens than have to go back and rework a few of them, in the big picture it is faster.


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## bradh (Jul 13, 2016)

Like others have said, do not wet sand with water on bare wood, you can wet sand on wood if you use something like BLO as the lubricant.
  I find wet sanding clears the dust from the sandpaper and keeps it cutting. This keeps it from clogging, but also allows the sandpaper to remove more material. I put thin coats of CA on my pens, so I do not want to remove very much CA; and that is why I dry sand.


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