Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

Re: Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

Ray Binnicker

>One way is cut 2 x 2 inch squares of plywood and drive very small finish nails all the way through with at least 1/2 to 1 " of the point end protruding. When you have applied finish to one side flip the board over and rest it on the sharp points of the nails. Unless you apply to much pressure you won't be able to see any marks.

Hmm,

Mark in B'ham

>You know, I've done that with small pieces before using a bunch of straight pins pushed through a square of cardboard.

Re: Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

>That's what I always do.

I have several different pieces/sizes of plywood with bunches of brads nailed through. I've never seem any marks or anything as a result.

Joe

It depends, brushing or spraying

nailshooter

>I like the brads points when brushing since you can sharpen the brad points and it will hold quite well on certain types of pieces. However, when spraying or if I need to speed things along, I use hooks.

Go to the hardware store and find the small hooks and put them in an inconspicuous place, or if finishing pieces, in an area that will be concealed later.

String a piece of picture wire or any other type of high strength wire across an area large enough to hang up your pieces by the hooks. If you are spraying, make sure you allow enough area for the finished parts to be moved out of the line of fire after spraying. I spray (this works great for staining, too) on one side of the parts line, then when finished slide the sprayed pieces by the hooks to the other side of the clothesline operation so they don't catch overspray. You can really speed up your finish times (I use this on kitchen cab doors) when you can finish both sides at once with no wait. Easier on the back too, as you can put your "clothesline" at eye level, so no bending over the work table. It also makes it much easier to get your light on the surface to see what you are doing.

Robert

They go on every horizontal surface in the shop

Johanna

>

Re: Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

C Yawn

>I agree with Ray. This is a good way to spray or brush both sides at one session. I made a larger board, about 18" square with nails through about every 2". Drilled the nail holes and use a 1/4" backer board so I can move the nails around. One caveat though; I learned the hard way this weekend that sometimes residue paint from previous projects on the nail points will stick to the wet board put on it. I had sprayed bright blue canned lacquer using the spray board about a week ago. When I used it this past weekend to hold some (lightweight) boards for brushing clear lacquer, the blue came off onto my new stuff in a few places. Not a big problem as it was just at the nail points. Maybe I need to use smaller, sharper nails or just replace them often.

Charles

Re: Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

David Hay @ Denver

>I use the same board-with-nails trick that others have described quite a bit. One thing to make sure is that you finish the inside/less-obvious side first, so that if the nails to mar the finish in any way, they're not as obvious.

Another thing you can do is to put nails or screws into parts that will be covered up. For example, I might put some nails into the bottom of the feet of a chair to hold it up off the table. In your case, you might consider putting 3-4 nails in the dados of your pieces while you finish it...the holes would then be covered up when you assembled the piece.

David

Re: Time to finish, what does everybody else do?

Ted Wong

>Sounds like you kind of do things the way I do. I usually use some type of wipe on stuff, do one side then the other. If it's a leg or something that I can lean up against the wall or pinch in a vise I'll do the whole thing.

Drywall screws work well also.

Ray Thompson - Middletown,IN

>they have very sharp small points. I use pieces of pegboard with the screws through them. Don't get the self tappers, the old originals.

Ray

Thanks everyone...

Mark inb'ham

>I really appreciate your input. David's idea of putting the nails in the dados is great. I've already drilled the holes for the screws I'm putting in the sides (I know I don't need them with a glued dado but I'm still stuck on having something metal in there). Anyway, I could put the screws through backwards and hold the outside of the piece up and tack nails in the dados to hold the other side. That would keep it up on both sides!