using micro mesh

[Stephen Hibbs]

When I use the very high grits, and get into the micro mesh stages, do I wetsand on the finish only, do I dry sand the finish, or do I dry sand the wood prior to finishing? Do I do a combination? I just picked some up at the store today because it was fairly cheap and the guy there said they can give really shiny finishes, but I know not how to use them

[Dennis Peacock]

Stephen,

I have use a LOT of Micro-Mesh. Mainly for making pens and such but have also used it on a few bowls.

I sand with standard paper through 400 grit, then I start with 1500 micro-mesh and use light pressure during the sanding. This is only wood we are sanding here and no finish applied. Once I get to about 4000 grit I used a wetted papertowel with mineral spirits just in front of the micro-mesh so that as I sand/polish the wood, the damp/wet papertowel catches the sanding dust and I repeat this process through 12000 grit if necessary. On pens, I dry sand through 12000 grit with no real lube, depending on the material I'm working with. If it's an acrylic pen blank or Corian, I use water as a lube/coolant when polishing with micro-mesh. Remember, once you get to 4000 grit, you aren't "sanding" any longer but only "polishing" the wood and progressing up through the grits is to only further refine the scratch pattern. At 12000 grit, the human eye can't really detect any scracthes at all.

This all may have sounded confusing, but I was only guessing at what you are sanding with it. It also depends on the wood you are turning as well. Walnut and Oak don't respond well to micro-mesh since they are such an open pore wood, so don't expect a glass finish on porous woods.

You can polish your finish if you so desire but you'll need a lubricant that doesn't attack the finish in any form. Lemon Oil or Mineral Oil works pretty well, but you'll need to clean off the oil's when done.