Finishing Drawers

Re: Finishing Drawers

Nick Tuzzolino

>Watco is fine for the fronts. If you use it inside the drawers, the odor will be there when your grandchildren inherit the piece. I have a Entertainment Center I built six years ago and the inside of the drawers still reek. A thin coat or two of shellac or Deft will do the job. No Oil based material for the insides!!!

Re: Finishing Drawers

Dean J in MN

>I finish the fronts only, nothing on sides, bottom, or back. (Or inside of cases for that matter).

That said -- seems modern customers (and woodworkers) have been trained to expect finish everywhere. In that case, shellac on the drawer sides, bottom and back would be the way to go. No odor and easy to apply a very light coat.

-Dean

Re: Finishing Drawers

Patrick Wheatley

>Nick/Dean, thanks for the advice. I was not thinking about finishing the inside of the drawers (but thanks for the warning!) but just the sides. I will stick with just the front.

Pat

Nice DT's

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>You should be happy. Natural Danish Oil will darken the color of the wood a bit. I'd go around the drawers front edges, but not the whole sides. None on the inside as said by the others, it will stink forever. A split coat of shellac on the insides if you want some protection. Now the real question, what is it?

Re: Finishing Drawers

dave caudill

>You can also put a coat of shellac on some of the edges to avoid the Watco bleeding into the areas you don't want to have finsih. You can then scrape it off later and have a nice clean surface. You'll have to be careful with the finish running on the front as well as inside now that you have drilled holes for the hardware. Its much easier to add finish and then drill for the hardware.

They do look very nice and I'm guessing that your wife is very pleased with the results.

Dave

Re: E T Completion

Barryvabeach

>Pat, in the future when your wife asks, say about six months. that is what I tell my wife and that brings is down to being asked about twice a year. I am just finishing a small table. When I first started I thought I would be done pretty quickly, but sure enough, I started in Oct and it took about six months - which is about what it takes me to get anything nice done. As to finishing, I don't finish the outsides of the drawer sides, but I usually finish all four insides and the bottom of the drawer with a waterborne finish. It doesn't have any smell and helps keep it cleaner. Barry

Re: Nice DT's

Patrick Wheatley

>Thanks for the compliments. These are really the first set of dovetails I have done. I learned a lot between the first drawer and the last, it is a good thing you can't see the insides. It is amazing how a little hand planning and sanding will cover those gaps!

This is the top of a side board that I am making. It is a very inexact copy of something from a furniture catalog. My next step is the doors, I started the panel glue up last night and will start the stile mortises later this week.

Here is a picture of the whole carcass, you can see the shelf and bottom in the backgound, all solid wood�I hope we don't move any time soon!

Looks real good!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Be sure to us some pics when it's done!

Re: Finishing Drawers

Peter Hyde

>Never put finish on the outside surfaces of drawer sides. Think about it, you want those nicely dovetailed drawers to slide in and out with a swish. Any finish on contact surfaces is going to cause sticking. The drawers should taper slightly in the width from front to back, (no more than a 1/16") and they should be fitted with a jack plane. Never sand any contact surface either as grit residue will cause premature wearing of the surfaces. A light rub of some hard beeswax will really make them slide nicely. Also the top and bottom drawer runners should be a harder wood than the sides. Similar woods will wear a lot faster.

Re: Finishing Drawers

Patrick Wheatley

>Peter,

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately it comes too late (the problem when you work by your self) but then without mistakes I will never learn. I used Maple for the sides and the drawer supports, and I have already sanded the bottoms...so, before it gets moving out of the man cave, I will vacuum and use a tack cloth to try and get everything dust and particle free. The saving grace is that being a sideboard, the drawers will not be used every day.

I will be much better prepared for the next project, a six drawer dresser for the bedroom.

Pat

Re: Finishing Drawers

Peter Hyde

>Patrick,

All is not lost your choice of woods is good. I have always used a softwood for drawer sides and backs. It is a good cost saving and a lot easier to plane when shooting in drawers. The wear thing is a matter of longevity. I have a 150 year old dresser with pine drawer sides and pine runners. When I got it all of the drawers were inoperable. I took the whole thing apart and found some of the runners were worn almost completely away and the drawer sides were worn right down to the bottoms. I rebuilt all the runners using white oak and spliced new pieces of pine along the bottom edges of the sides. Everything now works great. You can always put some pine glue blocks under the bottom along each side. This will increase the bearing area, add support to the bottom and provide the difference in hardness. Use blocks about 2" long and leave a gap between them as it allows dust and grit to escape from between the sliding surfaces.