If you're working with wood, the question of whether to sand wet or dry is important. Sanding wet can be more effective in some cases, but it also has its drawbacks. Here's a look at the pros and cons of each method to help you decide which is best for your project.
Wet sanding is often used to raise the grain of the wood before finishing. This can be helpful if you're trying to achieve a smooth finish. Wet sanding also lubricates the surface, which can reduce friction and heat build-up.
However, wet sanding can also cause problems. The water can swell the wood fibers, making them more difficult to sand evenly. In addition, wet surfaces are more susceptible to damage from sandpaper grits becoming embedded in the finish. And finally, it's important to make sure that any surfaces you're working on are completely dry before applying a finish; otherwise, you risk trapping moisture inside the wood and causing problems down the road.
Dry sanding has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, dry sanding produces less dust than wet sanding (although you should still wear a respirator or dust mask). It's also easier to control how much pressure you're applying when dry sanding, which can help avoid damaging delicate surfaces. And as we mentioned above, it's critical that surfaces are completely dry before finishing; with dry sanding there's no risk of trapped moisture ruining your work later on.
On the downside, drysand paper can clog quickly with sawdust particles; this isn't an issue with wet sandspaper since the water washes away debris as you work . Drysand ingcan also create static electricity , which attracts dust particles ; again , not an issue when working withwet . Finally , because there 's no lubrication ,dry -sanding generates more friction and heat build- up ; thiscan leadto premature wear on both your abrasivesandthe surfacewou 'reworkingon .