Sanding Questions

drawers. When sanded it produces a fine white powder. What is it likely to be and should I replace it after sanding?

Face only, maybe not so wet. No need to wet betwixt each grit. Just clean all previous grit. The white powder is probably some type of finish, alcohol, water or oil based, so check with the appropriate solvent. Drawers aren't usually finished unless they're a particularly "movin'" species, so I'd suggest a shellacking (sp), at least. If you want. It'd be nice to know the type of wood you've got to work with. Tom

The idea for wetting to raise the grain is to be able to sand of the resulting fuzz, and the fuzz only. If you cut past the fuzz, you need to re-raise the grain. With this in mind, grain-raising between grits is not necessary.

jc

Thanks for information. Sorry, should have mentioned that the wood is oak. What do think an appropriate finish for the sides should be? I am not really familar with shellacing; might a cut/diluted varnish work? Thanks for the replies.

Ok, First off you use the water to raise the grain ONLY IF you are going to use a WATER BASED finish. If you are going to use an OIL BASED finish use no water at all.

Water based finishes will raise the grain, hense you dampen the surface and do a final sanding before applying the water based finish.

Oil based finishes do not raise the grain and require no special water prep.

A dewaxed shellac sealer coat will also prevent grain raising.

You can also use a water based sanding sealer, which will both seal and raise the grain, making the sanding of the raised grain go better!