Water popping

[Thompmd]

Please explain your water popping sanding process. I'm using Walnut if that matters

 

[Packard]

I never heard that term.  Are you referring to “raising the grain with water”?

 

[jeffinsgf]

I never heard that term.  Are you referring to “raising the grain with water”?

Yes, he is. In "Influencer-speak". Every Instagram woodworker has demonstrated this, whether they know what they're doing or not.

 

[Packard]

I never heard that term.  Are you referring to “raising the grain with water”?

Yes, he is. In "Influencer-speak". Every Instagram woodworker has demonstrated this, whether they know what they're doing or not.

I thought he was talking about making seltzer.

 

[Thompmd]

I've never tried. I'm a retired hobby guy and sell Walnut slabs and had a customer ask and thought I'd try

I asked another customer and one said he adds water between each grit and another said he only does at his finish grit. Said he had tried each grit and it didn't seem to make a difference

 

[Vondawg]

Whenever I hear/read influencer my eyes glaze over and I move on.
That being said I’ve wiped on water and never had it make a difference

 

[luvmytoolz]

For a lot of our Aussie hardwoods if you don't pop the grain it's then an issue with getting a good finish.

 

[Vondawg]

I know you’ve got some of the hard(ist) woods does oily have anything to do with it ?

 

[luvmytoolz]

Luckily most of our hardwoods aren't naturally very oily, with the common exception of Merbau which is pretty much only used for decking and fencing despite being a beautiful timber, but they get insanely harder the older they get and can be a pain to machine. Blackbutt probably being one of the worst for blunting tools.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

The only thing any of these people have 'influenced' me to do is to turn off the computer.

 

[Cheese]

Whenever I hear/read influencer my eyes glaze over and I move on.

[thumbs up]  [big grin]

To all: Is this the same as raising the grain? And if you raise the grain, doesn't that just sand down with the first application of Granat?

 

[luvmytoolz]

The only thing any of these people have 'influenced' me to do is to turn off the computer.

Couldn't agree more, much like with the Kardashians fame, I'll never understand why anyone would put such meaningless people on a pedestal.

 

[peter halle]

Well, I just did a project and used a water based dye.  The recommendation from the manufacturer was to wipe the wood with water to raise the grain and once dry sand very lightly by hand to just cut off the nibs or fuzzies that might have appeared.  Then go to the dye process.  I was using maple and only noticed a slight fuzz to sand off.  Did it make a difference?  I couldn't tell you definitely.  But by the time I had sanded to 220 then wet, then hand sanded, then did 2 dye applications, then numerous coats of a water based varnish with one round of grey scotchbrite in that mix, my finish ended up smooth.

Peter

 

[FestitaMakool]

Isn’t this just a technique of trying to get more depth, and reduce glossiness of the wood itself?
If so, I wouldn’t sand very much in between.. a slight touch and build up with finish so that the grain popping stays upraised until it’s embedded in finish.

Or did I misunderstand completely?

 

[Muttley000]

I also do it when using water based finishes. Just wipe the project down with a wet rag after final sanding. Don’t leave any pooled water but get the surface to dampen.  Light sand at final grit removes the roughness. If you sand between coats of water base finish I would expect you get the same thing, but when using a precolor or pre aging dye like Rubio the difference is noticeable on some colors to me.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I also do it when using water based finishes......

Ding, ding, ding.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Isn’t this just a technique of trying to get more depth, and reduce glossiness of the wood itself?
If so, I wouldn’t sand very much in between.. a slight touch and build up with finish so that the grain popping stays upraised until it’s embedded in finish.

Or did I misunderstand completely?

Even with lots of coats if you don't raise and sand well on the woods that really need it, once the finish is dry it'd be like running your hand across sandpaper. I sand to quite high grits, and I've never had trouble with penetration or bonding with any finish, so no matter what I'm working on, I want the surface smooth before the first coat goes on.

 

[Packard]

Not to forget that MDF will also raise the “grain”, most notably on the cut or machined edges.

Lately the MDF will raise the grain with water based paints on the smooth surfaces too.  Before the pandemic I could get MDF with a super calendared surface.  That is, they would run the sheets through polished hand hardened rollers that made a super smooth and slick surface.  That surface took paint exceptionally well and would not raise the grain if the first coat was water based.  After the pandemic the smooth surfaces were not so smooth and they would raise the grain with water based paint.

I personally do not take the step to raise the grain anywhere.  I apply Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) or BIN (pigmented shellac) as the first coat instead.  They both offer exceptional bonding between the shellac and the substrate and they offer exceptional bonding between the top coats and the shellac.

If I am applying clear coats, the shellac seals the wood and makes the subsequent coats take less finish.  In effect it is a surrogate coat of the clear.  It dries in 20 minutes so in effect you can get two coats down in one longish session.

 

[peter halle]

After reading the comments here I thought it might best to mention that there are two similar phrases being used out there on the inter tubes. - "water popping" and "popping the grain".

Water popping is usually used when talking about using water to "raise the grain" in order to get any wood fibers that were knocked flat during sanding to stand up so that they can get sanded off on the next pass.

Grain popping is a technique or techniques using to accentuate the figure of the wood when applying a finish.  For instance when using dyes (and a great example would be guitars) a darker dye may be applied and then once the wood is dry the majority of the surface is sanded off leaving the dye in the more absorbent areas.  Then another coat of dye is applied to the entire piece again.  With the translucent effect of the finishes you will have in essence double coverage on the areas where the original coat was not sanded off  and that can be darker or even a different color.

Petere

 

[Packard]

Not to forget that MDF will also raise the “grain”, most notably on the cut or machined edges.

Lately the MDF will raise the grain with water based paints on the smooth surfaces too.  Before the pandemic I could get MDF with a super calendared surface.  That is, they would run the sheets through polished and hardened rollers that made a super smooth and slick surface.  That surface took paint exceptionally well and would not raise the grain if the first coat was water based.  After the pandemic the smooth surfaces were not so smooth and they would raise the grain with water based paint.

I personally do not take the step to raise the grain anywhere.  I apply Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) or BIN (pigmented shellac) as the first coat instead.  They both offer exceptional bonding between the shellac and the substrate and they offer exceptional bonding between the top coats and the shellac.

If I am applying clear coats, the shellac seals the wood and makes the subsequent coats take less finish.  In effect it is a surrogate coat of the clear.  It dries in 20 minutes so in effect you can get two coats down in one longish session.