finish sanding

with help from this forum I sprayed my 1st finish.
It's been drying and now it's almost time to start sanding.
any tips??
How do I keep the water out of screw holes etc?
Thanks

What type of finish did you use?

nitro

If you have enough clear on there you can proceed a few ways.

1. Use mineral spirits instead of water for wet sanding. However, mineral spirits give me skin rashes, so I don't use them.
2. Fill all the screws holes and such with wax to prevent water from getting in there and swelling the wood.

Wet sand with 600/800 grit, 1000 grit, 1200 grit, rubbing compound, swirl mark remover, wax/glaze

Wet sand with 600/800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, swirl remover, wax/glaze.

thanks for the wax tip
I have lots of clear on it, will start sanding with 800

I usually just keep rotating the pieces of sandpaper through bowl of water with a drop of dishwashing soap. As long as you shake the water off the paper before sanding with it there should be no problems. There's not going to be enough to drain into the holes and cause swelling. You only need enough water to keep the paper sliding.

Water and nitro is not a good combination. Ever see those round white rings on your grandma's furniture? That's were someone left a glass of liquid and the condensation left a white discolored ring in the nitro. Water and wood also bad combination, makes the wood swell, and may raise the moisture content as well.

Use mineral spirits and wear latex gloves. The mineral spirits aren't toxic, but like someone above said, it gave them a rash.

If your orange peel is real bad start with 800, if not so bad 1000 or 1200, then on out to 2000 or more. Keep the sandpaper and body WET.

You'll know when an area is smooth and ready for the next grit, as the sandpaper just glides across the surface. The areas that need more work you can actually hear the sandpaper cutting, plus you'll feel alot of resistance. Move on when it glides.

Ive sanded dozens of bodies and necks with water without any ill results on nitro finishes. As long as you don't drown the body, there won't be any wood to water content.

Ive sanded dozens of bodies and necks with water without any ill results on nitro finishes. As long as you don't drown the body, there won't be any wood to water content.

White glass rings on nitro finished furniture is all I have to say. LOL

When I was a young boy during the summers, I would spend hours a day visiting Claude Baer, in his furniture restoration shop. Furniture back then was nothing but lacquer finish, and Claude was a magician with repairs/restorations. Honestly the man was a magician with wood and finishes. I asked a lot of questions and was fascinated with his wood finishing magic. He taught me endless tricks; spraying, lacquer stick repairs, dyes, toners, fly specking, etc. etc. etc.. He never wet sanded lacquer with water, nor did my father in law, who worked for his father in a furniture refinishing shop in Santa Monica.

All these men made thier living working finishes in an era when that trade was pretty competitive, and men had a high degree of pride in the product(s) they produced. (Not that we guitar builders don't) I feel very fortunate to have learned trade secrets from a now near extinct profession from both these men. If water wet sanding was the preferred way to go, that's what they would have taught me and they didn't. Heck it's cheaper than chemicals too.

Do what tho wilt, but remember the white glass rings on lacquer furniture.

good stuff, thanks for all the info

I've only finished one body with water, but here's what I found: the holes I protected by rubbing in candle wax came out fine. The holes I didn't protect with candle wax expanded enough to put big cracks in the lacquer.

I refinished a Strat last year and used Micro Mesh, an alternative to regular wet sand paper. Micro Mesh is available in kits with various grits up to 12000. It lasts considerably longer than sandpaper with a little care. I started off with wet sandpaper for grits lower than the Micro Mesh. By the time I had worked my way to 6000 I had a real nice gloss, and this was 12000

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w49/otaypanky/DSCF0012-4.jpg