Building unfinished project

[Mike Hoyt]

Hi everyone, I have a question that I thought I would pose to the group. I have been asked to build a couple simple shelves and the wanted to finish it themselves to save some coin. I have no problem building them an unfinished product but my question is how much of the finish prep would you be willing to do? In my mind if I were to buy an unfinished product I would expect the need for some surface prep prior to the actual application of finish. I guess what I mean is to what extent would you sand this? Just get everything level and smooth or finish ready.

Thanks,
Mike

[glenn bradley]

I'd use an unfinished furniture store as a guide. None of the stuff I have seen in those could go direct to any finish IMHO. You could go straight to primer but after touch-sanding, I am sure you would need to fix the high spots before painting. If they are trying to save money then they are willing to do the parts that take time. I would build it without leaving any blatantly rough ends and feel comfortable with that.

P.s. I would deny any involvement with any piece that I did not take to completion ;-)

[Rob Woodman]

Hi Mike, it would depend on what finish they require really.
For a clear varnish or oil finish I would sand down to 180 or 240 grit with a random orbit sander or for painted finish just to 120 grit with any orbital sander.

I hate to see belt sander marks in a finished piece especially when they are across the grain, so tend to go a bit further on the sanding so I don't get linked to the clients lack of proper preparation.:D

Rob.

[Troy Turner]

Like Glenn said..."None of the stuff...could go direct to any finish" Usually, when we finish projects, we do it right after we sand and wipe down. Going to depend alot on when they plan on finishing it and where they keep it. You could finish sand, but then if they leave it in the garage or wherever, the grain could raise up and not give them the finish they are expecting. For them trying to save money, I'd say they're going to be willing to sand some before they finish it. And if not, that's on them. Just explain to them that you sanded to say 150, and they should sand to 180/220 (just numbers I'm throwing out) before applying their finish to get a good look.

[Prashun Patel]

Most unfinished furniture that I've seen/bought has been in oak and pine, and it usually feels like it's sanded to 150 'fairly well'.

[Joe Chritz]

I pre-sand the areas you can't get after assembly. Essentially the same thing I would do if I was finishing it myself.

Mention to them that the hard to reach areas are done and just need a touch up with a sanding block but all the easy to reach areas need a lot more work.

I try to avoid doing unfinished work mostly because a bad finish makes the whole piece look bad.

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

I've done a couple of projects for people like this and I always delivered the project with the surface sanded ready for finishing with the advice that they need to lightly sand with 220 to remove any handling fingerprints prior to finishing. I would not be comfortable delivering anything less unless it was specifically requested.

[Mike Hoyt]

Thanks for all the quick replies, you all touched on my concerns as far as having the customer doing a poor finishing job on something with my name on it. I think that it may be in my best interest to have it pretty much ready to go on delivery. Thanks again for all of your responses
Mike