Wood is a sponge for water. Exposing the grain of your wood to water even for a second will draw in far more water than a woodworker would be comfortable with.

Wood is a sponge for water. Exposing the grain of your wood to water even for a second will draw in far more water than a woodworker would be comfortable with. You may dry the outside of the wood in a few seconds, but the moisture has already been pulled into the wood like a straw, and this will expand, causing your wood to swell, bow, or even worse, crack or check. Trying to clump the dust with moisture would also probably jam your machines and break them. Just leaving a newly flattend piece of wood in your kitchen overnight will twist or bow the wood. experienced wood workers know that you actually use correct measurements to "pull" the wood into being square, more than you rely on the wood being 100% flat or true. We actually have perfectly good methods to work wood with extremely little dust. Cabinet makers will sharpen their chisels to 16000 grit very easily and quickly by hand. The chisel cut is so smooth that almost no dust is produced. A hand saw that is sharpened correctly can crosscut wood very efficiently if you have proper technique, which also produces less dust. Using a properly sharpened hand plane is roughly the same concept as a chisel and produces almost no dust. The reason we have to have dust collectors now, is because there simply isnt a better way to mass produce furniture, or for a hobbyist to crank out a dining table in a weekend. The machines give you ridiculous speed and precision for little effort. The trade-off is they kick up a tremendous amount of dust, and currently there is no better way to reduce dust while keeping powertools.