# Paint or Shelf Pin holes first???



## ant17r (Jan 23, 2014)

Hi everyone,

I'm building my first bookcase. The bookcase will be painted and will feature adjustable shelves. My question is this…should I paint and then drill the shelf pin holes OR drill the holes first and then paint? My concern with painting first is that I might mare the painted surface with the shelf pin jig. However, my concern with drilling the shelf pins first is having the holes get filled in with paint and then having to take the time to clean them out (not even sure how I would do that). Any suggestions are appreciated!

Anthony


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I've drilled them prior always but considered the issue. You 
can paint the interiors with a roller before assembly. A hand
countersink or a pen knife can get dry paint away from the
edges. The rolled paint before assembly will be pretty
controllable.


----------

