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I'd be interested to hear your techniques for wet-sanding tops both before shellac is applied and after the first few wash coats of shellac go on in preparation for a French Polish.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I do not wet sand except after completed finish is cured out. I do wipe with a damp cloth to raise the grain a bit prior to prep sanding before application of shellac seal coat, but all the wet sanding I do is in finish leveling and polishing only.

When French polishing I rarely have to wet sand to level because I sprit-off after every body session after the first two sessions. This process levels the amalgamation of shellac as I build the film. There are times I am better at this than others and on occasion I do need to sand to level. But I never wet sand bare wood or any finish untill completely built up and cured.MichaelP38881.5035763889