Wet Sanding Wood for a Smooth Finish
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 05. 2017
- Hey guys! I’m Brad, and I make how-to videos. I do custom painting projects, guitar painting, airbrushing, spray can painting, wood working, and a variety of other finishing work and tutorials. Please subscribe and check out my channel for more!
In this video we discuss whether or not you should be wet sanding your wooden items, and how to go about doing so properly.
Don't forget to ask your questions in the comment section.
Thanks for watching.
To get in touch with me with your questions, photos, etc. use the links below!
/ bradangovepainting
/ brad_angove
/ brad.angove
/ bradangove - Jak na to + styl
Thanks Brad! Been really getting good help from your videos! Very helpful and informative! Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience with all this!
Glad you’re finding the content useful.
I did it and it worked great. Listen to this man he knows what he is talking about. Thanks Bro, you are the man.
Thanks Kevin. Glad it worked well for you.
@@BradAngove 100q
Wet dye, raised grain, sanding, clear-coats.
Takes me back to my uncles rifle-stock re-finishing.
He would take a piece, rough sand it to cut into fresh wood, wet-dye it to bring out raise the grain, then give it a moderate clear-coat.
After fully dry, a light wet sanding to knock off all the high spot.
Then another dye job, this time a different shade of the first color.
The second bit of dye will penetrate the wood only where sanding has cut through the clear-coat.
Wet sanding until glossy, clear-coat for sealing and final finish.
He had some light blonde burl that had fantastic patterns in the grain, if you could see it!
This brought out very nice contrast.
BTW, he made his own mirror-bright sand paper out of the 'horse tail' plant.
He would split the wet stalks length-wise and lay them out pulpy side down onto Kraft paper backing, with a little thinned wood-glue to hold it together. Had to keep them from curling when they dry!
Dry sanding only, this stuff could make a mirror of bare wood!
+Greg Gallacci that sounds awesome. Your uncle must have been quite the craftsman.
Can't wait to see the next video!
Thanks Dalton.
Excellent, just what I needed to know, thank you!
Good video. Another application for intentionally raising the grain to sand it off is if you're going to color the guitar (or any other wood) with a water-based dye. Raise the grain with water, sand, apply the dye, and now you don't have to worry about losing color sanding off the grain that otherwise would have been raised by the application of the water-based dye.
Indeed. I usually end up sanding back my first layer of dye anyway to create burst effects or accenting, but raising the grain first is almost always a good practice to keep.
Thank you Brad your video just helped give me the confidence to wet sand! Thumbs up! 😉
Glad you found it helpful.
Nice. Im gonna try it on my next project
always good content here !
Thank you Sam.
awesome vid, I feel like ppl need to learn the value of your videos, alot of the things you do can be used on other wood projects. ppl need to do some learning lol, greetings from a fellow Brad!
Thanks Brad, and thanks for watching.
Hey Brad angove love your stuff been watching you for the last year, think you could do a video on repairing clear coat that's been brushed onto a guitar body over paint? Would like to attempt to polish it there are clear brush stroke lines and bristles from the brush stuck within it
Have you seen my video(s) on how to polish?
A common application for wet sanding that was not mentioned is sanding while applying an oil finish as a grain filler for open grain woods. Not only will grain be filled and handsomely accentuated, but will develop an extremely smooth surface and sheen.
Yes, I've applied that method in several of my videos. It's not really a sanding technique per se though; it's an application technique for the oil.
Do you do this step after you've stained the guitar, prior to applying poly?
Never occured to me to apply poly with fine-grit sandpaper (!) Should have done that on my Partscaster a few years ago; will definitely try it on the slab door table top currently in my shop.
Have a look at my video on how to get a perfectly smooth poly finish by hand for an example.
What's the easiest way to remove the poly finish from the fretboard, on a maple neck?
I'd like to remove all the poly and darken the pale maple finish.
Couldn't I just use Old English?
I heard that someone had great result with that, but I don't want a sticky fretboard.
Is there a simple dye I can use to darken it? I really don't want to wait days for it to dry.
thanks fella!
+Coil Fassbender Thanks for watching.
I use a little liquid soap and water wet dry finish sandpaper that I buy from an auto parts store and use it to smooth out Lacquer finish, it works great.
You use the soap hey? Old school.
Hello! Thank you for your video! I have a question. Would wet sanding work on a guitar that has multiple layers of satin finish over acrylic artwork? I am working to get a high shine on a guitar I’m working on start to finish.
Wet sanding finish is fine. As long as you don’t get any water in the finished wood. That can cause expansion and finish cracking.
Have you tried other fluids as a lubricant on wood? I have been making wood and epoxy box tops and coasters as learning pieces in preparation for a large wood/epoxy table top. I use almost exclusively hard, oily woods like rosewoods, etc. The scratch pattern from random orbit sanders on both the epoxy and the wood is excellent when sanded wet. No stray large scratches. I first raise the grain with one light application of water. Then I'm using the final oil finish as sanding lube through 600 grit, but its pretty thick, tends to gum up with the sanding dust. I'm wet sanding the raw wood and epoxy surface as I would sand a clear coat finish. Maybe applying mineral sprints or alcohol from a spray bottle? Any suggestions?
Yes, I’ve used mineral spirits and naphtha before. I’ve also used thinned down oil, poly, etc.
Hi Brad I require your expertise! I am making a guitar with a dark, highly figured walnut top and a light ash body. I want to paint the back and sides black because I don't think the light ash matches the dark walnut. I'm worried that a straight black line into walnut might look a bit too jarring so I'm thinking about doing some binding but that will restrict how I can carve the body and I don't think I have the time. Do you think black into dark walnut will look ok? Or is there a 'classy' way to make the transition easier on the eye? Help is much appreciated. I'm doing tests on offcuts so I can make sure it looks good before jumping in...
It's a bit tough to say how that will look honestly, and whether it looks good is kind of a matter of preference. If you're concerned about the transition being too abrupt, you may want to consider doing a thin black burst around the edge of the top. Do the sides completely black, and then even a 0.75" uniform burst pattern would probably soften the transition quite a bit.
I like the piece in the background of the thumbnail.
I've been wet-sanding my birdhouse with tung oil for the purpose of waterproofing.
I wait 72 hours between each coat and use a finer grit each time.
Do you think the finer grit will aid in sealing the wood? Or is it 6 of 1?
I think if you’ve done a couple coats like that already you can now move on to just wiping it on for your remaining coats.
Hey Brad. Love your videos. Extremely helpful! I am in the process of spray painting guitar metallic silver. Last coat I have orange peel. Should I wet sand. Wait to dry and paint again then clear coat seal? Thanks for your help!!!
It depends how bad it is. You can do that, or if it’s only minor you can more on to the clear coat and then sand the orange peel out of that.
Thank Brad! I appreciate your help. You rock🤘🏻
One other question Brad. How long before I can spray paint after wet sanding top of guitar? One day? A week? Thanks again for your help!
If you have some airflow over it and don’t get it too wet then the next day should be fine. If you use something that evaporates more quickly like naphtha you can go sooner.
Hi Brad, your channel is amazing!! I have a question. After I wet sanded raw wood, and im satisfied enough to go with sanding sealer, what do you suggest for final cleaning of the wood? I have some lighter fluid, can that do the trick?
Keep up the good work! :)
Yes lighter fluid should work fine.
@@BradAngove thanks :)
I spray the wood with a bit of water to bring up the grain, then sand.
on my tru oil finishes I do a sand with BLO from 250 to 800 pver a few days leave it for a month then sand the first coat of tru in at a 1000 them apply as normal.
crimson oil I dont bother with BLO.
That's a very thorough way of doing it. I'm sure you get great results.
So I’ve sanded then primed and painted my guitar with acrylic paint and now I’ve applied mod podge, should I sand over this to smooth it out?
I would.
I just discovered this channel but I have a number of questions, so I'm making myself a coffee table and 2 end tables, I'm probably not even painting them correctly, but I'm basically at the clear coat, and I'm using a spray can, it's coming out bumpy, what's the best way to fix that? Also would i be better off rolling stuff from a can on? I'm trying to stretch it out a little more, I have a pretty kick ass idea and I might be able to sell a few coffee tables and end tables, but I need a quality finish
Bumpy like the surface of an orange, or bumpy like there’s grit under the surface?
@@BradAngove it was smooth until I hit it with a can of clear coat, then it got rough, I tried to sand it but I didn't wet sand it, ruined it, so I'm thinking of buying polyurethane and giving that a go
+Brad Angove can you paint on water-based acrylic as a guitar finish? I saw a guy (DIY Gene) do it & it came out well. He got some orange peel cuz he didn't wet sand. Can you wet sand water-based acrylic? If so, do you wet sand the finish after tru oiling it, or before clearcoating it with tru oil? Great video
Sure you can use water based acrylic. I do it al the time. On the flip side though, I never wet sand a guitar finish. I also never apply tru-oil over paint.
I'm looking to avoid spray finishes since I don't have the right setup & need something cheap so looks like tru oil's my best option. How do you avoid orange peel when using water based acrylic? I don't mind some grain on the back of the neck, but on the body I'd prefer it to look smooth. Would you recommend using a brush or a roller to apply the paint? What's your process for using water based acrylic? Also- how many coats of WB acrylic should I use, & what water to paint ratio? I don't want it to be too watery or too thick, never used WB acrylic. How should I use WB acrylic on a neck to get a satin feel, sandpaper (which grit?) or steel wool? Thanks for always being so helpful in the comments, it's greatly appreciated. Most YTers aren't as responsive as you, we really appreciate it
You shouldn’t get orange peel if you’re not spraying, although if you choose to roll it you will get something similar. There’s no real way to avoid it except perhaps by changing your thinning ratios. I apply my WB acrylic by spraying it. Don’t apply it with sandpaper. That’s not something you would really do with colored paint. The thinning ratio depends on the specific paint and the application method.
Brad Angove would using a brush to paint the WB acrylic work ok or would I have problems if I used a brush? What about a cloth or T-shirt?I just don’t want any streaking or blemishes. I’m looking to avoid spraying the WBA to save $ & also bc I don’t have the right setup & tools, so I’m looking for the best way to paint a neck & body without spraying. I’m thinking of using WBA cuz I don’t want to use nitro (it’s flammable, toxic etc).
WBA seems like a good option, but Is there a better option than WBA for a home DIYer that doesn’t want to use nitro & have a whole spray setup? I’m going for an opaque black finish (not a dye or stain)
You can brush it, but as with anything if you don’t know what you’re doing you can easily leave streaks. Have you considered using spray cans?
What about wet sanding primed wood? Can spray painted some wood today and it has a sandy texture. I want to remove that sandy feel before applying top coat.
That’s probably raised grain. I would suggest dry sanding it with 320 or 400 grit.
Saw a video for a trick to avoid sanding through. He lightly sprayed a colour over the clear coat. Used wet sanding to take away the color so as to see the material he took off. Is that something you'd recommend doing? Is there a type of paint you can't do this trick with? Love to know your thoughts about it?
That’s called a guide coat. It’s generally used to show you if your base coats are smooth when you sand. It doesn’t really prevent you from sanding through per se. It’s a useful technique though.
Hi Brad, did you go to a finishing school to learn your craft? Again thanks for the informative video.
Hi Jack. No, I didn't go to finishing school. I learned most of it through a couple jobs that I've had, a short airbrushing course that I took, a lot of online research, and a lot of trial and error.
Can you use Mineral Spirits instead of water, so it dries out quicker?
Yes.
What kind of sandpaper are you using? It looks like a scouring pad.
It's just foam backed wet/dry sandpaper.
Hey Brad completely different subject....have you ever used gold, silver, or copper leaf on a finish?
I haven't. I'd be interested in trying it someday though.
Haven't tried this but my brain is telling me wouldn't the grain readjust itself as the little bit of water evaporates after you finish your wet sand? I would think that as the wood dries, the grain could become unsmooth...am I wrong?
The grain raises as you wet it, and then you sand it off. Generally it doesn’t then raise again if that’s what you mean.
Hey bro ... i wanna ask.. my wood get black stain after i wet sanding it... can yo suggest a way on how to remove it?
Black? The grain, or the wood surface in its entirety?
Brad Angove i forget to mention that after i lacquer the surface then i wet sanding it but then the black stain appeared ... i try to sanding it again then it got even worse
So your lacquer developed a black stain when wet sanding? Were you using water, or something else?
Brad Angove yeahh exactly
Brad Angove i think i use only plain water with some dish soap
Came here for my guitar 🤙🏽🤙🏽
Hope it helped
How do u prep basswood for enamel paint I can't get a smooth surface
Did you grain fill it?
Brad Angove. I don't know what brand to use
Brad Angove. I watch ur videos very informative plus ur guitars a sweet dude!!!
The brand shouldn’t make much difference.
Brad Angove. Oh ok thxs for ur help
What grit of sandpaper did you use
Probably 400 or something like that. Did I not say it in the video?
I bought 400 that should do I’m doing it on a raw guitar
And thank you
You’re welcome. I hope it goes well for you.
Thank you
Jake Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale's mouth had a baby
Nice technique with the exception of skin contaminants moving into the wood pours with each water application.. consider wearing gloves for a finer outcome
I decided to take an old shelf out of my garage and clean it up to bring in the house.. I sanded it real nice and went and bought stain and clear gloss spray lacquer thinking it would be easy peezy.. but after investigating on applying stain I came to the conclusion that I didn't need stain so I decided to just spray the lacquer and after countless videos and reading I have learned something very important about all this.. You can never learn everything there is to learn about all this stuff 🤦😑 I'm in over my head.
Did something go wrong?
So why do people say to leave the wet sandpaper in water for 24 hours?
Soaking it like that helps make sure it doesn’t load up, but it’s more of a thing for sanding finishes, not wood.
333
666
I gotta politely disagree a little bit. Wet-sanding WORKS on BARE WOOD not from the "lubrication", but from the swelling of the wood fibers. When you dry-sand, the wood fibers compact down pretty quickly.
On finished or painted wood, then correct, the lubrication comes into play.
It's not my favorite way to raise grain, but it can achieve that.
@@BradAngove I've used it (wet-sanding) a lot on glue-ups. Also to smooth up sawn-oak boards.I used to get really frustrated with trying to get those pieces to decent quality.
All that said, best wishes to you and keep after it.
Glad to hear it has worked well for you.