# Painted baltic birch with exposed edge - prefinish?



## Charliefreak (Nov 14, 2017)

Hi lumberjocks

I want to create some cabinets using baltic birch. For the cabinet doors and drawer-fronts I would like a painted finish on the front, but for the edges to be the exposed ply layers from the baltic birch (possibly profiled in some way to create built-in pulls). The final look should be similar to these:



















I'm trying to figure out the best workflow for the finishing. If I make the drawers / fronts first before finishing it will be a royal p.i.t.a. to tape all the edges (especially if profiled) and I don't think I'll get a good end result either. But the edges should have some sort of finish (like a poly).

I'm wondering if anyone has done anything similar. I'm thinking of painting the whole panel of baltic birch (or at least a section larger than the fronts I need) then, cutting and profiling it, and then when the door is finished, spraying the whole thing with satin poly. Will that work? I'm worried about marring the painted finish as I cut and profile the fronts (e.g. running a router across the painted front?)

Thanks for any help!

Harry


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Maybe paint all the parts before assembly, when they are dry enough to work with and assemble. You'll do it that way on any future painted project. Glue squeeze out isn't an issue anymore.

Leave the bottoms unpainted, never seen, except by children, and those you can paste wax so they slide smoothly. Or if you do want to see the unfinished edges, poly the entire edge, and then paint over the poly. Glue acts the same. Shellac, poly, clear top coats. Just know that shellac, and thinned poly will dry very fast so you can keep going. Some other topcoats to slide in, and out will take weeks to get that kind of dry.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Just know that shellac, and thinned poly will dry very fast so you can keep going.
> 
> - therealSteveN


The first thing I see when I look at that is the lock joints on the drawers are wrong.

Regarding the comment above, shellac dries quickly, not poly, thinned or not. Shellac is an evaporative finish and they all dry quickly; poly is reactive, so even when it is try to the touch-which takes much longer than an evaporative finish-it's not cured. That takes weeks.


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## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

If it were me, I'd paint the fronts the very first thing after you're done assembling. Then after that, you can quickly sand off any paint that got where it shouldn't have (sides), and then after that, apply your lacquer or poly or whatever the top coat will be to the entire project. Minimal masking would have to occur. If you rolled or brushed on your paint, you'd potentially have no masking. Sealing over top the paint is a good idea. Make sure the paint and clear coat are compatible though.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

In fact, the only benefit gained by thinning is faster drying. The thinner the layer of any finish, the faster it dries, and the sooner it can be sanded and the next coat applied. So there is a benefit, but it's not improved bonding.

Most times I see poly/MS blends they are talking about 2 hour recoat, and 3 coats a day, cured 8 to 24 hours. If a person was to use Water based Poly, quicker yet.

When I think slow cures, I think 2 to 4 weeks. Straight up poly floors take that long, thinned, with MS different program.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Most times I see poly/MS blends they are talking about 2 hour recoat, and 3 coats a day, cured 8 to 24 hours. If a person was to use Water based Poly, quicker yet.
> 
> When I think slow cures, I think 2 to 4 weeks. Straight up poly floors take that long, thinned, with MS different program.
> 
> - therealSteveN


You're confusing evaporation with curing. Like I said, a reactive finish that's dry to the touch is not necessarily cured. That takes time and thinning does not affect it.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

I think you are confusing cured with the reality that most woodworkers will sand and handle that initial cure as if it was fully cured. That is after 8 to 24 hours. It's not just me doing this. Flexner himself has done this.

If a part is made so that interacting parts like drawers are so tight, that simply adding a finish causes them to stick, you might want to reconsider how tight the parts are in relation to each other, maybe thats just me?


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> I think you are confusing cured with the reality that most woodworkers will sand and handle that initial cure as if it was fully cured. That is after 8 to 24 hours. It s not just me doing this. Flexner himself has done this.
> 
> - therealSteveN


Yes, go with that. It fits your MO.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

Note what the publisher for one of the biggest woodworking Empires in the US says right at the end. I think it's your MO that fits this conversation to a T.

In case you don't want to hear what he is suggesting to woodworkers, it's paste wax application 72 hours after Poly.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> In case you don t want to hear what he is suggesting to woodworkers, it s paste wax application 72 hours after Poly.
> 
> - therealSteveN


Red herring. But, like I said, go with it. I've made my point.

Let's get back to the fact that those lock joints on the drawers are cut wrong. Other than increasing surface area for the glue, they do nothing to strengthen the joint mechanically.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

You've made your point all right, and the word that describes your point is OBFUSCATE I know, BIG words….. you say it like this Rich ob· fus· cate Let it roll around on your tongue a while.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> You ve made your point all right, and the word that describes your point is OBFUSCATE I know, BIG words….. you say it like this Rich ob· fus· cate Let it roll around on your tongue a while.
> 
> - therealSteveN


So when I wrote in post #2: "Regarding the comment above, shellac dries quickly, not poly, thinned or not. Shellac is an evaporative finish and they all dry quickly; poly is reactive, so even when it is try to the touch-which takes much longer than an evaporative finish-it's not cured. That takes weeks."

That was obfuscation? Now, talk to me about BIG words. Listen, please just move on. You're acting desperate and embarrassing yourself, and your comments are focusing on me and have nothing to do with the OP.

Instead, why don't we discuss joinery (you know, woodworking) and get back to those lock joints for the drawers? For anyone who doesn't cut dovetails, have a dovetail jig, or whatever, lock joints for drawers are a good choice. They just need to be cut properly. These aren't.


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