3 Jan 2014 – Finishing Before Assembly
“Finishing Before Assembly” Sometimes it's the best option.
I don't like to finish before I've assembled the project. I just seems wrong. However there are some times when it makes sense to finish a project before it is glued together. When I was about to assemble the wine cabinet, I realized it was going to be impossible to get between the wine bottle grid if I didn't at least partly finish before it was completely assembled. I used a combination of partial assembly and partial pre-finish. When parts are going to be too close together to apply a good coat of finish, then it just makes sense to finish first. Also partial assembly is very common. I often finish cabinets and bookcases before putting the back or doors on. This allows easy access to all areas of the project and it avoids corners that are difficult to finish evenly. Finally, finishing solid wood pieces that might cause an uneven reveal during expansion or contraction makes a project look much nicer—for example a shiplap or tongue and groove joint. If you decide to do any type of finishing prior to glue-up make sure you cover the areas to be glued with blue or other masking tape. If you get finish on these areas it will affect the integrity of the glue hold.