I have seen this in another thread a year or two ago. I don't recall what the outcome was though. I'll do some searching and see if I can find it.

I can't say if it was the steel wool or not, but FWIW, I don't use steel wool for anything woodworking related, especially in guitar building. The stuff is way more trouble than it's worth for a number of reasons, and there are numerous products available now that will get timber perfectly smooth without generating a bazillion micro-sized steel fibres.

Hopefully the collective we can help you sort it out. I post back after I've had a look around.