is it ok to wet sand epoxy? do you get good results? I share a garage for storage with two other people. I want to keep the dust down to a minimum.
work great, but…
… a different kind of mess… GH
I hooked up a shop vac to sander
Used a smaller sized flex tube into step up coupling into shop vac. Drew quite a bit of the dust into vac as I sanded.
shop vac , long hose and ROS
wet sanding is what you do for finish coats,if you wet sand epoxy it would be for a very, very smooth surface,that would make it harder for paint/varnish to adhere. Wet sanding leaves puddles of water full of whatever you’re sanding all over the floor,when it dries you’ve got it on the floor to kick up later.
Get a cheap $30 shop vac that you’re willing to have burn up (mine hasn’t in 5yrs but it’s a warning), attach a 25’ vac hose to it, put it OUTSIDE, and attach the hose to a ROS. You’ll be removing dust AT THE SOURCE and by keeping the vac outside you’ll reduce kicking up dust and noise.
This is worth it. Keeping epoxy dust from your shared space is good for neighborly relations but more important reducing the dust that can cloud around your eyes and skin is even better.
When you empty the vac. or clean the bag,so the cheap vac won’t be overworked more than it already is,do it OUTSIDE and put a large garbage bag around the operation and ALWAYS wear a mask.
I can’t say too much what an improvement this is. Sanding discs will last longer because the dust is removed before it can pack in and heat up on the pad.
Shop vac bags
You can get bags for shop vacs – eliminates the dust cloud you get when you dump it, and minimizes the amount of dust in the exhaust. A HEPA cartridge filter will clean the exhaust air even more.
wet sanding
is a great way to go and yes it works very well on epoxy and keeps down the dust. A tarp under your work area will catch the spillage. I also keep a bucket of water and a sponge to wipe down the boat occasionally. I found that the blades for a utility knife is very good for eliminating the drips and runs in the epoxy before sanding.
Scrapers!!
yes,between wiping up drips with an alcohol rag,making sure the initial wet-out coat is even and applying thin fill coats,scrapers are the next best thing to cutting down on the need for excessive sanding.