Tips for Finishing before glue up

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

So I am switching from finishing after to glue up to finishing before glue up. As a hobbyist, I have been mainly doing small boxes and trying to get the dried glue out of the inside corners was getting old (I was using blue tape no matter what, I ended up with glue on the area to be finished ;)).

I am planning on using blue tape to protect the joints...is there a better alternative?

I have been using GF Arm R Seal. For those of you who pre-finish, do you complete all of the coats before removing the tape and doing the glue up or do you complete enough coats to seal the wood, do the glue up and then do the final coats/finishing after glue up.

Any general tips anyone would like to share?

[Jim Becker]

I do some pre-finishing from time to time and as you mention, tape off areas that will require glue surfaces. It can take a lot of time, sometimes, to do that, but it can pay off with good access to spots that might be more difficult later. Or, allow for avoiding unpleasant situations, such as spraying "into" a box with really bites. Most of my pre-finishing is for interior things as you might surmise, so final overall finishing doesn't occur until after assembly.

[Phil Mueller]

I’m going through the same trials. On my last box build, I prefinished all interial parts prior to glue up. I actually prefinished the entire length of the board prior to cutting it into the sides....this way the miter joints are clean for glue. For a box where the top is glued onto the sides, I tape the top of the sides only to keep finish off. All the exterior parts are finished post glue up.

[Stan Calow]

when I tape around the ends, I invariably get small pieces of blue tape caught in the joints. That becomes an aggravation to remove. I like Phil's idea, although for me, if I finish before final cutting or routing, I get too many marks and scratches requiring touch-up. Sometimes, I just dye or stain the parts, but do the finish after assembly.

Probably been done a zillion times, but there's a good magazine topic in this.

[Patrick Chase]

when I tape around the ends, I invariably get small pieces of blue tape caught in the joints. That becomes an aggravation to remove. I like Phil's idea, although for me, if I finish before final cutting or routing, I get too many marks and scratches requiring touch-up. Sometimes, I just dye or stain the parts, but do the finish after assembly.

Probably been done a zillion times, but there's a good magazine topic in this.

A couple thoughts:

I usually at least stain and put down a sealer layer (often shellac) before gluing up. The shellac is mostly there to protect the stain from tape and any errant glue/scuffing/whatever. Whether I do more than that depends on the accessibility of the surface.

I sometimes use a layer of wax in situations where masking tape would be inconvenient. I never cease to be amazed at how well plain old Johnson paste wax repels glue. Of course you have to remove the wzx thoroughly before you can apply the next finish layer. I typically remove wax with Naptha or paint thinner (NOT the newer "low VOC" thinners that contain acetone and/or water based emulsions), as it doesn't disturb any of the sealer coats that I use.

I also use paste wax on cauls FWIW.