Finishing strategy

[Greg Wandless]

I am finally ready to put a finish on a mahogany chest I've been working on. I want try Jeff's finish from the last issue of FWW, but don't want to finish the inside with oil so I decided to shellac the inside. My question is Which to I do first, the inside with shellac or the outside with dyes and toned oil? I don't want to get shellac on the outside surfaces and mess up the dye but also don't want to get oil on the inside and smell it up.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Greg

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

This should not be to difficult. I'd shellac the inside to have it sealed. Then I would sand the top edge of the chest to make sure no shellac interferred with the dye. That's assuming the top edge will be dyed. By the way if you find a small spot where you did hit with shellac, I think rubbing the dye a bit into the spot with scotch bright would probably work it in just fine.

I might also dye the inside depending upon the shade.