Chest of Drawers Did I Make A Mistake?

[James White]

I am in the finishing stages of my first chest of drawers. Yesterday I sprayed the inside of the carcase with shellac. This includes the drawer guides and runners. Is that a mistake? What about the sides of the drawers? They were dyed and coated with shellac.

What made me think about this is. I started to think about doing a few coats of WaterLox on the sides of the drawers. Then thought if the oil varnish was not completely cured. I may get some sticking. Then come to the conclusion that no matter what I did the finish will eventually rub off. That would not look good on the sides of the drawers when they are open.

What has been your experience with this? Should I remove all the finish from the runners and drawer sides? Just the top and bottom of the drawer sides (were they contact the runners and kickers)?

James

[Jerome Hanby]

I think shellac will be fine. Wax the runners well.

[Darrin Vanden Bosch]

I always finish every square inch, inside and out when I finish a project. I use an oil finish that is absorbed into the wood, does not rub off, and then an oil varnish mix for the finish coat.

Darrin

[glenn bradley]

Agreed. I would not have finished them but, I see no problem with shellac. Items that will hold clothing or linens can transfer odor for years as the clothing is enclosed for periods of time but, a barrier coat of shellac can be used to prevent/solve that. Open items like shelves, tables and such don't have this issue.

I use shellac and paste wax to make my jig surfaces slippery. The shellac'd and waxed bottom of my BB ply sleds have been used for years and perform perfectly with touch-ups of the wax about once a year or so.

[James White]

Thank you for the speedy responses. I would like to continue working on this. So so far with just shellac I am good. But then seems like I have one vote to say go ahead and topcoat with oil varnish? And one vote that says stop at the shellac and just maintain the wax. Did I get that correct?

James

[James White]

Glenn,

You say you would not have finished the contact areas. But if you were dying the drawer fronts. How would you prevent the dye from getting on the drawer sides. That is my reason for putting finish on the drawer sides. Otherwise I would only have done the inside of the carcase in order to have the wood sealed on both sides. But then again I sprayed the inside of the drawers with shellac. So I should have finish on the drawer sides as well. Or does it not mater in the case of drawer sides.


Agreed. I would not have finished them but, I see no problem with shellac. Items that will hold clothing or linens can transfer odor for years as the clothing is enclosed for periods of time but, a barrier coat of shellac can be used to prevent/solve that. Open items like shelves, tables and such don't have this issue.

I use shellac and paste wax to make my jig surfaces slippery. The shellac'd and waxed bottom of my BB ply sleds have been used for years and perform perfectly with touch-ups of the wax about once a year or so.

[John Thompson]

Shellac on the inside is fine... it's an alcohol based product. The reason for not using oil based is the odor can hang around a long time as oil takes quite a while to completely "gas off" and with closed and filled drawers that can be a long while. I don't use anything inside but if I did want to coat them shellac is the only finish I would use. How I avoid stain carry over from one part to another.. simple.. sand them to finish and then finish them un-assembled. Blue tape tenons.. etc...

Good luck...

[Russell Sansom]

A slightly different problem not mentioned here, but noted in one of the Krenov books, is that the varnish breaks down when enclosed. It actually stinks. I'll bet you've opened a china cabinet or corner cupboard, or something like that, and almost been knocked over by the "aged varnish stench." Shellac inside smells sweet and proper even a century later.

[Peter Quinn]

I did a bathroom door with waterlox. It was applied on a covered porch during a warm dry period in May here in CT, allowed to cure for a week out doors, allowed to cure for two weeks in my shop, it still had a stink three months after being hung. Not over whelming, but noticeable, and this thing was hanging in an opening, couldn't get any more air. If you waterlox the drawers, plan to let them cure for a very very long time before installation. I have better results with shellac and a water based varnish personally. The water based cures much more quickly.

[James White]

Since no one has shown any objection to having shellac on the drawer's contact surfaces. I will go ahead and rub all the contact surfaces with a gray or white Scotchbrite and coat well with some Renaissance wax.

Thank you all
James

[frank shic]

james, there's no such thing as a mistake in woodworking - it's either an opportunity or a feature lol ;)

[James White]

Ya. I was going for the stinking sticky drawer feature. But changed my mind and went with the chipped corner at the last minute.:eek:

James

james, there's no such thing as a mistake in woodworking - it's either an opportunity or a feature lol ;)

[frank shic]

lol please post a pic soon... i love chests of drawers!

[James White]

lol please post a pic soon... i love chests of drawers!

Sorry I took so long getting around to this.

[James White]

As you can see. I had some trouble getting the dye to take evenly. I think the problem was that I sanded some areas with 220 and other areas where only hand planed.

I attended the woodworking show this past weekend. One of the presenters, Paul Sellers, advised to always follow hand planing with 220 paper. What do you all do? What takes water soluble dye more?

I wanted to redo it. But in the end i didn't. I felt better when a friend said "I thought it was intentional".

James

[Peter J Lee]

Where do you see much difference? I'm pretty far down on the expert rating around here, but my understanding was that you wanted to prepare all the wood the same.

I say, nice mistakes James!

[James White]

The photos don't seem to capture the real difference. I'm not the best photographer. This photo show it bit better. The four bottom drawers are much darker that the four top. Then the rails and legs are lighter still.

James

[Ralph Okonieski]

As Frank said, you have a "feature". That chest of drawers is beautiful. I love QSWO. Wood is wood and some difference in color is just a feature IMHO. Very nicely done!

[Kent A Bathurst]

As you can see. I had some trouble getting the dye to take evenly. I think the problem was that I sanded some areas with 220 and other areas where only hand planed.

I attended the woodworking show this past weekend. One of the presenters, Paul Sellers, advised to always follow hand planing with 220 paper. What do you all do? What takes water soluble dye more?


FWIW.......the vast majority of my stuff is QSWO. Always water based dye, followed by a gel stain to fill the pores. 3/4# - 1# ultra pale shellac before, between, and after each coat.

I'm curious as to which drawer fronts were sanded and which were planed? If I was forced to guess, I'd guess the darker ones were sanded.

I use my ROS to 180g, then a light hand-sand with cork block @ 180g. HOWEVER - on exposed end-grain, I also sand 220-320 to "burnish" the wood, and then a couple light coats of the shellac, followed by a very light sanding with 600g - this inhibits dye absorption on the end grain, so the color turns out a dead-nuts match for the faces.

I think that the correct answer is to do it however you want to do it, but do it all the same. Then, you can get to the color you want by changing the dye concentration.

But - it still looks good to me. You will notice the difference, as will anyone you point it out to, so.....shut the heck up!! :D :D

[Robert LaPlaca]

I am in the finishing stages of my first chest of drawers. Yesterday I sprayed the inside of the carcase with shellac. This includes the drawer guides and runners. Is that a mistake? What about the sides of the drawers? They were dyed and coated with shellac.

What made me think about this is. I started to think about doing a few coats of WaterLox on the sides of the drawers. Then thought if the oil varnish was not completely cured. I may get some sticking. Then come to the conclusion that no matter what I did the finish will eventually rub off. That would not look good on the sides of the drawers when they are open.

What has been your experience with this? Should I remove all the finish from the runners and drawer sides? Just the top and bottom of the drawer sides (were they contact the runners and kickers)?

James

Jim,

I finish the inside of the case with shellac everywhere but the drawer runners, the drawer runners only get paste wax. The drawer boxes (excluding the drawer front) are finished with a couple of thin coats of dewaxed blond shellac (aka. Sealcoat), this also excludes the bottoms of the drawer sides that touch the runners, they get paste wax as a finish... I love WaterLox, but I would never use it for the inside of the case..too smelly

Best of luck

[Brent VanFossen]

Nice work. Beautiful choice of woods.

[James White]

Kent,

Now that I think about it everything was sanded to 220. I forgot that I raised the grain and sanded before applying the dye. That being said. I believe the top drawers where the ones that where only planed prior to raising the grain. That means that they got just a light sanding after grain raising. This does not explain why the rails are so much lighter. Perhaps sanding to 220 burnished them? Either that or the fact that the drawers where done on my bench with lots of light. While the carcase was done in an area without much light. Also by then the dye on the drawer fronts was dry and chalky. So it may have looked like a match. I just hope I get better at it with experience. I would not be happy with this if it where being done for a customer.

By the way. This is all black oak. The exception being the legs and the top. Those are white oak.

Robert,

This thread is old. I only revived it to post the photos as requested. I did wind up spraying the interior with shellac. Including the runners. Perhaps next time I will taper them off.

James