Finishing wood with shelf pins

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I will drill holes for shelf pins in some plywood. It will be easiest for me to drill these holes before I fully assemble and finish with Waterlox.

Do I need to worry about finish getting into those holes? If so, how do you prevent it?

I have not done much with shelf pins.

[Sam Murdoch]

If you are brushing the Waterlox you might create some issues with flooding the holes but with a wipe on finish no worries. Even with a brush on finish I would choose to prebore and sand as needed but put some 5mm or 1/4" pins in the holes during the finish - not wood plugs - use shelf pins, and then just go ahead and finish as needed. The reason being that if you are boring your holes by hand with a jig I just think that you will likely need to do a bit of sanding after boring but before the finish. With a line boring machine I would finish first and line bore after.

[Lee Schierer]

Go ahead and apply your finish with the holes open. After the final coat take a drill bit in a hand chuck and ream each hole that your shelf pins won't go in. Any build up in the holes will remain softer than the finish on the surface so hand reaming should work.

As an added thought, if you are staining your project, you can stain the inside of the pin holes using a Q-tip dipped in your stain. Be sure to rotate the Q-tip as you put it in and take it out of the hole to prevent the cotton from unraveling.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I use a Q-tip to sop up any excess.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I use a Q-tip to sop up any excess.

So you apply your finish, then drop a Q-tip into each hole? Not a bad idea.

[Mark Bolton]

If your concerned with the appearance and go to the trouble of staining the inside of the hole why not use sleeves? Nice and clean. They do draw a little more attention to the hole but in a very visual spot where the holes are right in your face they look much more intentional in my opinion .

[Andrew Pitonyak]

If your concerned with the appearance and go to the trouble of staining the inside of the hole why not use sleeves? Nice and clean. They do draw a little more attention to the hole but in a very visual spot where the holes are right in your face they look much more intentional in my opinion .

OK, I had not thought of that...... Might add a nice look actually.

[Rich Engelhardt]

So you apply your finish, then drop a Q-tip into each hole?I paint or varnish & then go back once the paint or varnish has set up & swab the holes out w/a Q-tip.
I tried finishing everything first then going back and drilling the shelf pin holes. That's too much like work.

[Chris Padilla]

OK, I had not thought of that...... Might add a nice look actually.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40484&cat=3,41419,41454

These are nice ones from Lee Valley that I use.

[Mark Bolton]

http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=40484&cat=3,41419,41454

These are nice ones from Lee Valley that I use.

Those sure are nice for the right project. Most of the places we've used them require many and those would drive the cost out of site. A single 80" bookcase uses a bunch.

There are several sources for less expensive sleeves (like a bag of 250 for 20 bucks). They require a much smaller hole than the ones above (9/32 for a 1/4" pin).

The only thing I will warn you is some of the cheaper sleeves can be a bit thin and the fit between the pin and the sleeve can be sloppy in my opinion. I personally don't like it if the pin droops a little bit out of the sleeve. It's a fuss factor but none the less.

Just ask whoever your getting them from to mail you a couple samples. The color offerings are endless.

[Chris Padilla]

Mark,

I bought a bunch of these a while ago and they MUST have been on sale because I was shocked how expensive they were when I looked earlier!! I wouldn't buy them right now, that is for sure!! :D

[Mark Bolton]

Yeah for sure.. Those would put the hurt on the wallet!

[Erik Christensen]

If you are using a spray applicator you don't need to do anything. I have done a number of cabinets with shelf pin holes and even with 4 coats of water poly I have never had an issue with the holes getting so clogged with finish the pins were hard to insert. The one set i did where I used latex paint as a color base was a different story - even with a spray applicator the holes had to be reamed post finishing. I just used a 5mm bit in a drill - the existing hole served as a drill guide and i didn't have any issues with the hand held drill enlarging the existing hole - it just removed the build up finish.