Prefinish BB drawer stock?

[Mike Berrevoets]

I have a bunch of drawers to make for the kitchen remodel. Going with 1/2" baltic birch for sides and 3/8" for the bottoms. Half blind dovetailed and Blum glides.

Is there any reason I can't put a few coats of finish on before I start cutting everything to size? The drawer bottoms seem like a no brainier since they aren't glued to anything. But is it doable for the sides as well or will I compromise the glueing of the dovetail joint?

I realize i will probably have to do some touch up of the finish and finish the edges but it could save some time and hassle of sanding and finishing inside the box.

Mike

[Tom M King]

If you are spraying, assemble the sides and wait to slide the bottoms in until after finishing-same as you would do with the carcasses and their backs.

[Peter Kelly]

I'd rip, groove, sand and finish the blanks before length cutting, joinery and assembly. Much easier to finish stuff when it's flat.

Could also buy prefinished BHK ply or solid wood blanks. I think the expense is worth it if you're doing a whole kitchen: http://www.baersupply.com/baer/servlet/CyberVendor/category/C0427819/catalog/?ShowAllGroups=True

[Fred Heenie]

I keep a sheet of 1/2" BB for drawer sides for cabinets that has been sprayed one side with poly acrylic. Works great after the drawer boxes are complete I spray the out sides and 1/4" bottoms are pre finished both sides before being busted to size. Drawers for furniture is a whole different story from solid maple on..

[Roy Harding]

I like to pre-finish all the parts before cutting the joinery. This makes final finishing easier, doesn't interfere with the gluing process, and actually makes glue ups easier since squeeze out just pops off the finished surfaces.

[Larry Frank]

When I build drawers, I do it like Peter. I make the long blanks and finish them. I do not have a sprayer so I use half of a regular paint roller for two coats and brush a third with sanding in between. It makes it much easier for me this way. I will prefinish the sides of either plywood or solid wood.

I also prefinish the bottoms.

[Mike Berrevoets]

Thanks all. I wonder sometimes why I didn't think of better/faster ways of doing things before. I'm a hobbyist so it's not always about getting things done quickly but there is a lot of work with this project beyond the cabinets so I'm exploring different ways of doing things to pick up some speed.

The professionals have nothing to worry about with me as competition. I'm way too slow to make money at this. :)

[Peter Kelly]

Could also order from Western Dovetail or Drawer Box Specialties.

http://www.drawer.com/market/drawers
http://www.dbsdrawers.com/products/drawers/standard_drawer_box.php

Prices aren't bad really. I think DBS will sell unassembled units which saves a bit of money.

[Steve Peterson]

My local lumber supplier has 8" by 60" and 12" by 60" pre-finished BB ply for drawers. The edges are bullnose cut and finished on all sides. They can be cut in half for 4" or 6" tall drawer sides. It seems like there would be enough surface area on the fingers that it would still be strong enough.

I don't recall the price, but it seemed reasonable.

Steve

[Rick Potter]

Plus 1 on Steves post. My local dealer has those also. The 12 x 60 are about 11 3/4", and cost me $10 each. I build my drawers with a simple table saw drawer joint, but I sand the ends of the sides to remove the finish for the 1/2" where the joint is. Takes maybe 30 seconds per joint to do. Made a simple jig to do that.

I am down to my last piece of this stuff, and need to get some more pretty quick. The finish on them is much better than anything I could put on, really hard.