Finishing tambour door

[Trent Shirley]

Hi All, first time poster here.

I am working on a small box with a tambour door based on the design in a recent wood working magazine.
In the article it says to use a wipe on Minwax poly finish after assembly.
Is this the best way to finish this box?

Should I finish the tambour slats before gluing them to the material and let them dry so that they do not stick together? Or if I use a wipe on finish after assembly are they going to stick?

I am making the box from maple and cherry. The tambour slats will of course be tightly fitted together and I worry that they will either stick together after finishing or the finish will push them too far apart.

[Chris Padilla]

Personally, I like to do as much finishing pre-assembly as possible or if the assembled piece will have certain areas that are difficult to finish.

Just be sure to mask appropriately the areas requiring glue and you should be all right pre-finishing.

As to the wipe on poly being the best finish to use, that depends on what this box will be used for. The wipe on is easy to use....

[Scott Holmes]

I'd pre-finish.

I also would NOT use polyurethane varnish. I'd use a harder, clearer, varnish like Pratt & Lambert #38... anything but poly; which is for floors. I know that the marketing guys tel everyone that will listen that it's the best; it is for their bottom line poly is the cheapest to make and the least forgiving to use.

[Tom McMahon]

Listen to Scott he's a very smart man.

[Pete McMahon]

I'd pre-finish.

I also would NOT use polyurethane varnish. I'd use a harder, clearer, varnish like Pratt & Lambert #38... anything but poly; which is for floors. I know that the marketing guys tel everyone that will listen that it's the best; it is for their bottom line poly is the cheapest to make and the least forgiving to use.

Pre-finishing is the way to go.
I would suggest that poly is fine for a small box like this. It's simple for a beginner and how hard does this coating need to be? It's not a table top. Another very simple suggestion would be shellac in a spray can. It would make very fast work out of this small project.

[Trent Shirley]

Thanks for the insight guys.
I am a budding woodworker but barely even qualify for newbie status for finishing.

This is just a decorative box that will hold two bottles of wine with a tambour door front. It does not have to have a strong protective finish, just something to seal it and bring out the grain of the cherry and maple.
The slats for the door should be tightly fitted together so I do not want any significant thickness of the finish there and I could not imagine trying to finish it after assembly unless I just used some sort of wax based finish.

I have to hurry to get it completed as it is a gift for my boss who is retiring next week so a complicated finish is just out of reach.

I expect I will use a wipe on for the door and brush on for the body so it will get a bit thicker coating without having to do as many coats.

I have some Waterlox Original sealer/finish, should that work well for this purpose? I have used it twice, once for a cherry table I made as a wedding gift and once for some cauls I made for my shop.

[Scott Holmes]

Waterlox will be a fine choice.

[Pete McMahon]

Trent,
Waterlox would be good for the outside but think about it on the interior. It could take an awful long time to stop smelling like oil whenever the doors got opened.
One alternative to consider with Waterlox, especially if the box needs to be done NOW:
Use the Waterlox with restraint. By that I mean wipe it on sparingly, just enough to let it color the wood. Wipe it down well and let it sit overnight. Get a can of Zinseer Shellac in a spray can. Give the everything a few light coats of shellac. Be sure and spray a few test pieces to see how it behaves. Overlap each pass about 50% and you'll have a nice even coat. There are directions on the side of the can.
Let it sit overnight and rub it down with a grey scotch pad or 0000 steel wool and you'll have a surface that is silky soft. Everyone will marvel at how nice it feels. An option is to wax the surface when you're done. In a pinch you could use a colored shoe polish as your wax.
The other great thing about the shellac is it will lock in any residual odors.
I know you're new at this. If you take a chance and try this you will be happily surprised. If time is of the essence, what I've just described will take no more than three hours over a couple of days.
Let us know how you do.

[Trent Shirley]

I ended up putting a thin wipe one coat of Waterlox and finished with a few layers of spray shellac. It came out very nice though the spray shellac does leave a bit of a bumpy finish that I could not completely polish smooth before I had to give up the box.

It came out nice. I just had a bit of tearout on one of the sides but learned a lesson from it.

See pics attached if I am allowed to upload.

[Scott Holmes]

Waterlox is more durable than shellac; you did it in the wrong order. Shellac to seal then the varnish.

[Pete McMahon]

Waterlox is more durable than shellac; you did it in the wrong order. Shellac to seal then the varnish.

Usimg Waterlox as a colorant is the same as using the venerated BLO and garnet shellac system. The difference is some resin and thinner in the waterlox (along with a different oil of course). Used with restraint it accomplishes the same thing, adding a little color to the wood.
Shellac is a fine finish for a box like this. If on the other hand it was a table top, it should be done in reverse.