Isaac Posted October 4, 2018 Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 I'm hoping to pre-finish my latest cabinet project. It consists of panel sides, a panel door, Figure 8 attached top and a drawer, pretty straightforward. The majority of joinery is with dowel joints. Is it best to pre-finish down to each individual piece, or do people usually do this in sub-assemblies, such as entire door panel? How do I go about avoiding getting finish on my ends to be doweled, and probably more challenging, at the faces where incoming pieces enter perpendicularly, but are finished on either side? Is blue tape enough? On a related note, when gluing dowels or floating tenons, do you focus on just getting the glue into and on the tenon and mortise? or do you also glue the surrounding end grain of the cheeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted October 4, 2018 Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 11 hours ago, Isaac said: Is it best to pre-finish down to each individual piece, or do people usually do this in sub-assemblies, such as entire door panel? I think best practice is to finish floating panels before glueup so as the panel moves there is never bare wood showing. When i do this i typically do only 1 coat and then finish the rest in place. I get worries the panel won't fit any more with finish on it. 11 hours ago, Isaac said: How do I go about avoiding getting finish on my ends to be doweled, and probably more challenging, at the faces where incoming pieces enter perpendicularly, but are finished on either side? Is blue tape enough? Blue tape is enoguh. Are you talking the end grain? I wouldn't worry about it a ton just have a dry rage handy and clean the face or use blue tape. For the portion on the face I've left it finished, didn't finish it and got it later, used sandpaper to scrape the finish off. All of them worked. Endgrain doesn't offer much strength and your relying mostly on the dowel. If the areas are critical for strength i'd leave them un finished but if it's part of a redundant frame where it won't see much stress i'd not worry about it. 11 hours ago, Isaac said: On a related note, when gluing dowels or floating tenons, do you focus on just getting the glue into and on the tenon and mortise? or do you also glue the surrounding end grain of the cheeks. Depends but again end grain offers little strength. For dowels it might help a bit more but a M&T joint is more than strong enough. I avoid the end grain glue with M&T to make cleanup easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted October 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 Thanks very much. I think I will do my best to avoid the end grain gluing as well. I'm excited to give this a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted October 4, 2018 Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 I make an effort not to finish the cabinet backs. They are finished when I install. On door panels I do the same as chestnut. One coat in advance. All the rest is finished after assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey Posted October 4, 2018 Report Share Posted October 4, 2018 I like to pre-finish all pieces individually before assembly. It's just easier for me. I never have to worry about glue squeeze-out during assembly that way. With a cup hook stuck in the end of the piece either next to a mortise or on the bottom end of a vertical part, I can hang the pieces up to dry between coats of finish. I also only glue the mortise and the tenon, not the end grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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