Cleaning up knots on Osage

[JoJoDapyro]

I made a trade and got a few staves from Fred Arnold. 2 went to Tyke, and I got 2. One of the ones I wanted has some smaller knots on the back. Fred cleaned all of them up except for about 4. I noticed by accident that if the early growth gets any moisture on it (I'm a fat sweaty guy, even if it is cold) that it swells and scrapes right off. Is this an acceptable way? Has anyone tried it? Does it negatively effect the wood? It doesn't seem to do anything to the late growth, only the very light colored punky stuff. Thanks.

[Will H]

Don't worry about it. I do the same thing all the time. As a matter of fact when I am doing my finish sanding I wipe my bows down with a wet rag inbetween grits. Doing so "raises the grain" then I level it off with the next grit. Makes for a super smooth sanding job.