# wet or dry micromeshing?



## sgimbel (Dec 12, 2012)

been watching some good videos from "Woods and Whimmsesand he does not wet sand anything because of the possibility of moisture creeping in between the CA and tube.They polish up as good as anything I've seen. What do you do?


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## W3DRM (Dec 12, 2012)

I only wet-sand when I am doing a CA finish. I've never had a problem wet-sanding using micromesh on a CA finish. With a CA finish the surface of the turning is pretty-well sealed so the chance of moisture getting under the surface is pretty minimal especially with the item turning on the lathe. Centrifugal force itself would tend to prevent the water from getting absorbed into the ends.

For bare untreated wood, I just sand dry.


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## Lenny (Dec 12, 2012)

I agree with Don, I only wet sand after using CA as a finish. I HAVE had problems with moisture sneaking in on the ends ... Just a way to remind me to let the CA run over the edge and seal the ends up! I often coat the ends with ca before turning but sometimes I get lazy.:redface:


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## wood-of-1kind (Dec 12, 2012)

For me it's:

wood = dry MM
Plastic = wet MM


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## Jim Burr (Dec 12, 2012)

Try this...seems to work for me;
barrel trim your ends and seal with a drop of thin CA, now your ends are sealed. Turn as normal. Hit with some 600 if needed and then start your CA finish. Everyone feels differently...but I do 5 coats of thin and wet MM it 1500'ish. 5 more coats and repeat. Tada!! Beautiful finish


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## alamocdc (Dec 13, 2012)

I do what Peter does... wet for synthetics (and antler), and dry for wood.


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## 76winger (Dec 13, 2012)

For Acrylic and CA coated wood I used to dry MM but find I get a slightly better (more glossy) final result when I MM wet with the last 6 pads. 

As mentioned centrifugal force keeps most the water from getting into the wood. Another thing that helps, is all wood that I CA finish is coated on the ends with CA prior to squaring up with the barrel trimmer or sanding disk. This helps keep the wood from coming apart and water from getting in.


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## toolcrazy (Dec 13, 2012)

I wet sand all my CA finishes and never have had a problem. It might be that I use;
ELIMINATOR 805 REV II Finishing Bushings [ELIMINATOR_805_REV_II] - $8.79 : Penturners Products!
JonnyCNC's finishing bushings. The ends get sealed as I put the CA on.


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## NotURMailman (Dec 13, 2012)

alamocdc said:


> I do what Peter does... wet for synthetics (and antler), and dry for wood.



Same here.

And I have a different set of MM for each process.


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## hunter-27 (Dec 13, 2012)

I do not put water in my shop, this includes sanding of all materials.


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## scotirish (Dec 14, 2012)

I have used micro mesh on a few of my wood pins, depending on the wood the pen is made out of. At same time I never used wet micro mesh on any of the wood pins that I have made. I do however, use wet micro mesh when I use the "plastic stuff" to make a pen out of, it does make it much smoother and it makes it shinier.
Ron


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## Ulises Victoria (Dec 14, 2012)

I NEVER wet-sand wood; I ALWAYS wet-sand plastics.


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## lorbay (Dec 14, 2012)

I wet sand all CA.

Lin.


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## KenV (Dec 14, 2012)

"Wet sand" does not necessarily mean only water.

Russ Fairfield wet sanded with wax solutions.

I sometimes "wet sand" with mineral spirits.


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## NotURMailman (Dec 14, 2012)

KenV said:


> "Wet sand" does not necessarily mean only water.
> 
> Russ Fairfield wet sanded with wax solutions.
> 
> I sometimes "wet sand" with mineral spirits.


 

That's true, I didn't thik about that. I have wet sanded with mineral oil.


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## 1stRaymond (Dec 14, 2012)

I MM wet-sand with DNA on woods and acrylics.


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