Did I mention working wet?

The trick to working with wet/dry sandpaper is working wet. (Keep in mind all of my sanding comments relate to alabaster, chlorite, and pyrophyllite).

To do this I use a large black rubber pan that I purchased from Sculpture House. I The pan is designed for use in mixing plaster. Actually, I believe it is manufactured for use in the barn -- pigs, goats, horses, etc. If you hunt in google for "Kanguro bucket" you will find many referencese. All of the references relate to farm/barn and most of them are in the UK. Here is a quote about the Kanguro bucket:

"Kanguro are made from reinforced rubber, they are virtually indestructible ( even for pigs!), and are impervious to frost, sunlight and manure acids. They are the long term answer to all your bucket requirements. 17 litres"

I suppose manure acids aren't a regular part of sculpting. But it's nice to know that if there are any the bucket is impervious.

The part number at Sculpture House for the rubble tub I use is C-100 -- called Cesta Rubber Bucket. I am gonna order one to make sure it is the same as the ones I bought back in 1986. As you can tell, they last a long long time. The only down-side is that the rubber marks my white alabaster. So to prevent this I use a large cloth (old t-shirt) to line the pan.

So with rubber tub filled (about 1/2) with water and the sculpture partially immersed I am good to go for the wet version of wet/dry sanding.

There are several advantages to this:

1. It keeps the dust down (yay!) .
   
2. I achieve a better surface faster.
3. The sandpaper lasts much longer.
4. It is easier to tell when it is time to switch to the next grade of sandpaper.
   

On the larger pieces I can't fit the sculpture in the pan, so I will either run water over the sculpture as I sand or I will have a basin sitting close by and dip into it every few moments to re-wet the sandpaper and rinse the sculpture.