I'm in the process of refinishing a high grade claro walnut stock that was previously done in "True Oil" by a well know gunsmith. Once the finish had been wet sanded back to the mud coat, I noticed a sea of metal the size of pin pricks......it was residual steel wool. I wish they would outlaw the stuff however I know it is widely used and always yields the same result...generaly visible in the finish.
Any suggestions to remove this as I don't want to sand the stock further as it has a prefect checkering job and sanded level. Can I apply an acid to react with the steel wool to disolve it? Or just pick out the fibres and refill the mud coat (very time consuming however I've done it before)? Boy, some of these simple jobs get complicated in a hurry!

If the stuff isn't stuck into the finish too bad you might try a strong magnet and see if that works.

I've tried the magnetic. it retained by the mud coat which I believe is also "True Oil". I can pick it out with a small needle however I don't know how successful I'll be. Tempted to try muractic acid as it disolves steel wool.

I would think that the acid is going to also attack the finish...so why not just sand through it with 600 grit paper and wipe the steel wool particles away in the process? You're pretty much stuck with the checkering, but you can sand through the base of the finish in the non-checkered areas without really removing any wood.

Well the deed is done! Thanks to the emails and posts here this is what I did. It may help someone in the future with a similar problem.
I picked the larger visible steel wool fibres out with a needle just like removing a sliver and tacked them off with tacking tape. I then wet sanded with 600 grit removing the less visible fibres and reducing the depressions where the large fibres were removed. The residue was wiped dry between sandings so the fibres would not reanchor themselves in the stock.
I was glad I did it this way as some of the larger fibres were embedded almost vertical and sanding would not have removed them. I then applied my mud (True Oil and Rottenstone) and set the stock aside to dry. Whole process took about 4 hours.
The checkering was not touched and appeared not to have been steel wooled. Now I can get a superb finish! Appreciate all the help.