> Could someone please explain the procedure for "wet sanding."
> Why would you wet sand rather than regular sanding methods. I must say
> that I find that doing a decent job of sanding ( and not oversanding!) to
> be the trickiest part of building my kayak. Thanks for the help. Nancy

Wet sanding is usually used for finer grits of sandpaper. It is used for several good reasons; 1-the liquid washes away the sanding dust and the paper bites better, 2-the sand paper doesn't plug up with the sanding residue, 3-the dust is not floating in the air, 4-if you are finish sanding for a clear coat the liquid will give you a very close indication of what the final surface will look like.

You will need: -special paper with a waterproof backing.

-a source of water. (hose, bucket & sponge, etc.)

-an area for the water to drain away. Hose method is messy.

Keep the paper wet to allow it to cut easily and to flow away any residue. Sand as you would with the dry sand method. Make sure your substrate is impervious to water. (Don't wet sand the wood.)

In autobody refinishing we use wet sanding for our final finish sand, either 600 or 800 grit. We also use it to take runs and dust out of the finsh,1000 or 2000 grit, before we polish. Courser sanding below 320-400 grit doesn't really benefit from wet sanding.

Hope this helps. Ian