Calling assembly experts. Stain, finish or assemble first?

i prefinish a lot of my projects. It’s much easier and better results in most cases. Sometimes I’ll leave final coat until after assembly.

-- Paul

I don’t think it matters much as long as you protect the glue joints when finishing. The glue joints will be quite a bit weaker if you allow stain or Waterlox to get into the joints before assembly.

-- Dave Herron, Boise, ID -- How hard can it be? It's only wood!

Here’s my answer… It depends.

I have worked both ways. Most projects I finish after assembly. But there are some pieces that can (and should) be finished before they are glued together, the panels in a raised panel, for instance. Solid wood will expand or contract from season to season and could expose an unfinished area when it shrinks up. If you are planning to finish before assembly, just be sure to mask off any areas that will be glued.

-- Mark

I do a lot of fumed finishes and I like to have the piece completely assembled and the final sanding done prior to fuming. Then the finish is applied after the piece “gases off”. Sometimes, depending on the project, on other finishing techniques, there are sub assemblies of the project that can be finished then assembled with the rest of the piece, without affecting quality of construction. If I have a piece with a lot of spindles, I won’t even glue them in place. The joint needs to be tight and I use cut offs of screen door spline (or you can use space balls) to keep them from rattling. These pieces could be finished first, then assembled. I exclusively use a hand rubbed finish, so it’s rather easy to slop the finish on, then wipe it all off.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

I agree with all the replies… so, I think it means whatever works best for you. I’ve done it both ways. To me, it seems like projects look better if it’s possible to finish them before assembly. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the glue so much.

-- Make things with wood. Any way you want. The wood police won't come. I promise!

Great advice from everyone. Protect those glue joints and pre-finish for the best results, is my two cents.

-- Dooley, North Palm Beach, Florida www.myspace.com/smokey4bandit20

Group, you’ve been a great help to my contemplation here. Based on the feedback, I’m leaning toward stain first, then assmeble and finish after that. I’ve seen a couple tricks with blue tape on tenons and filling the mortise with steel wool. I’m also interested in the feedback from tenontim on not gluing the spindles. I’ll try that.

With wipe on waterlox, is coverage pretty simple in tight spaces after assembly?

i also say it depends. if you have a panel then finish that before you put it in. if there are a lot of joints where it is 90 degrees and there are corners that you might not be able to finish after then finish it before.

-- if you haven't already check out my blog http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/teenagewoodworker/blog/3961

If you are going it have two different finishes side by side then finish those parts first. That will keep the finishes from bleeding into each other.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Yeah, what they said. It depends on the piece. Different projects involve specific finishes and finishing schedules. There is no one-size-fits-all finish. Contrary to what a certain TV wood guru thinks, tung oil is not the finish to beat all finishes. Tung oil is an easy out but not a best option in all cases and neither is a single approach or answer to the assemble first/finish first equation. Slapping tung oil on everything isn’t so much a simple solution as it is a mindless one.

Sometimes you might want to finish raised panels and their frames separately but many times that is not practical. There are distinct advantages and problems with any approach, in the end you’ll have to compromise for the sake of getting the project completed.

Now having said all that, I think that if a given project involves a multitude of individual assemblies or smallish parts, then there’s a necessity to do some finishing before assembly as it would be most difficult or even impossible to finish afterwards. Again, the situation and project dictates the terms. Good luck.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein