Finishing an Armoire

Don, You’ve presented some good questions and I hope some of the other LJer’s will chime in and give their opinions. #1. should you leave the inside completely unfinished? Personally, I’ve never like leaving anything unfinished, but that’s a personal prefrence. I always do the same finish on the interior of any piece of furniture as I do on the exterior. That’s not a written rule by no means, just the way I like to do it. I love the feel of a beautifully finished drawer. As far as the smell, most finishes will gas off for quite a while. The longer you can leave the drawers and doors open before using the better. I don’t notice any odors from any of my dressers, chests, desks, wardrobes, entertainment centers etc. ( It did take a while for it to go away though). The reason I listed all of them is this is some of the funiture I’ve built for my home and we use everyday. #2.Where do you stop with stain? Even though I finish the interiors, very seldom do I stain the inside (unless it’s open shelves or glass doors). I stain stiles and rails and drawer fronts, but leave the drawer box and interior of cabinet unstained. Doors, (both sides) and again the stile and rail, but usuall leave the interior of the cabinet unstained. #3. Should I prefinish or pre stain before assembly? The only draw back to staining or finishing before assembly is you are very limited to what you can sand once it’s assembled.
It’s really your call, and everyone has their own way of doing things. Good luck and hope you will post some pictures for us.
One last question. What stain do you plan on using. I’ve found working with cherry, if I use a med. color stain, the natural cherry will darken with time and blend really well with the stained parts.

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

Don, like John I always finish the inside of any cabinet that I build. I assume that you are using oil base poly or other oil base varnish as a finish. It does give off an appreciable odor for a long time. If you want a finish that provides surface protection and is virtually odorless you might want to consider shellac. You can apply multiple coats in a day’s time and it is easily repaired should the necessity arrive. Its biggest drawback is that it does not handle water or alcohol. But that should not be a problem with an armoire.

As far as staining goes I do not stain cherry. But if you are going to then I would stain every part that will be visible with the doors open or closed.

I agree with John about pre-finishing/staining. I usually do this only when necessary such as on the raised panel to prevent it from sticking to the rails and stiles during glue-up. I have found that invariably some form of touch-up is going to be necessary if the piece is stained or finished as I will get some scratches in the surface during handling and assembly. But if you want to do so then you will need to mask off those areas that are going to be in contact with glue since finish will inhibit formation of a glue joint. To me it is just more trouble than it is worth.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Don,

I agree with John and Scott’s suggestions overall. However, my personal preference is to leave any part of a piece that is unseen or won’t be touched unfinished. Although.. for the inside of drawers, traditional finishes include no finish, shellac or a clear wax. This is to make cleaning the drawers easier and none of these have any smell to them really. Sometimes no finish is helpful, such as when using aromatic cedar for drawer bottoms. I studied a lot of modern “fine” production furniture and antique furniture for my dresser project and I don’t recall seeing any finishes or stains used internally. The undersides of antique or modern tabletops are almost always raw oxidized wood. Traditionally, I suspect this has much to do with reducing the costs of applying finishes. Either way, I don’t think there is any disadvantage, or any advantage to the practice unless your furniture is in a steam room or something drastic. Regardless, this is your work and I think it’s most important that you do what feels right to you. Either way, it’s going to turn out great from the picture you posted. Great question/forum topic and project. Hopefully others chime in.

-- Matt - Syracuse, NY

Thanks guys for great tips. Now I feel comforable finishing the inside. And I’ll shellac the drawers for a nice feel and finish.

-- Don, Saginaw Mi

Good choice Don

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon