sanding green wood

[Jonathan Harvey]

I've never finished a bowl green and would love to give it a go but I do have a question that I'm sure has a very easy answer. How do you clear your sandpaper when it gums up with wet wood fibers. I tried to use a steel brush and just hold it against my poster sander to clear the wet wood fibers, but that just blues the bowl with steel fibers. I thought that maybe a brass brush would work. How do you do it or do you just go through loads of good sandpaper? I'm cheap and am looking for a solution.

[Joe Pfeifer]

If I turn a finished bowl when it's green, I let it dry for at least a week and then sand it.

[alex carey]

Once the sandpaper dries clean it with an air compressor.

[Dennis Ford]

I usually wait for the turning to dry and then sand off the lathe. You can do it wet if you dip the sandpaper in water and keep it wet, no dust just a mushy mess that is easy to clean up with water. If you try the wet sanding, be aware that a final sanding will be necessary after the wood drys.

[Scott Hackler]

I never sand a green bowl. It gets thrown in the Dna for an overnight soak and then wrapped up in newspaper for a month or so, returned to the lathe, turned round and finished thickness......then sanded to 400 grit.

[Don Geiger]

I learned from David Ellsworth a few years ago that Abranet works very well on green Wood. I was at Arrowmont to assist him with a class. On Sunday when he arrived he was so excited about it that he wanted to show it too me before we did anything else.

Abranet looks like a screen and does not load up when sanding like paper does. When you get finished you can remove it from the pad (it has loops on the back) and you can slap it on the edge of a bench or blow it out with compressed air.
It lasts much longer than paper.

It's available in various diameters from Bruce Hoover, at "The Sanding Glove." Bruce also sells a thin interface disc to go between the pad and the Abranet. This protects the hooks on your pad from wearing off because otherwise the hooks come through the Abranet and come in contact with the wood.

Don Geiger

[Allen Neighbors]

I do sand wet wood, sometimes. When I do, I use a soft bristled Brass brush, and just gently move it in circular motion, then hit the paper with a blast of air. That'll work til you get down to 220 grit, then I wet sand from there, usually using Danish Oil.
If I use water to wet sand, then I spin the bowl fast for a little while, to help get the excess water out of it. Then I let it dry, and hand-sand the last 320/400 grit again, after it's dry. It works for me. I'm a miser, also, and lazy, to boot. :)

[George Guadiane]

I power sand green turnings on the lathe, fairly often. Hollow forms generally hold their shape so I can get away with it.
When I use a finish, it's a water based poly... I mention that because when I sand, I use oil to keep down the dust and so that I can see what the finished surface will look like. Shellac will dry over the oil sanded finish too.
Oil based poly will NEVER DRY over oil sanded wood.

I have had VERY satisfactory results with this method.