Drawer Box Construction and Prefinishing

[Kevin Stafford]

I'm building some cabinet drawers and am debating trying to prefinish at least some of the surfaces prior to assembly. I plan on finishing with Enduro Clear Poly using my HVLP, and the boxes will be butt-jointed together using brad nails for fastening.

The pros I can see for prefinishing:



Fewer complications getting even coverage when applying the finish (vs. doing it post assembly).
Easier to remove glue squeeze-out from finished interior corners.


The cons/complications:


Taping off all the parts that will get glue is time consuming.
Not sure how to deal with smoothing out any minor offsets where the edges meet. Normally I'd do some quick block plane work if two edges don't meet exactly perfect, but can't if there is already finish applied.
In my experience, Enduro Clear Poly is fairly soft when it first drives (curing fully over the first month), so I'm concerned clamping it for assembly will mar the finish.


Does anyone here prefinish their drawer boxes? If so, how do you deal with these issues?

Thanks in advance.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I always pre-finish the drawer boxes, at least the interiors, for the reasons you stated. Yes, ends need to be taped to keep glue surfaces clean. Can not say it is my favorite task but do it anyway. After interiors are finished, then glue the boxes. The exteriors are cleaned and sanded, then finished. Certainly takes longer elapsed time to complete but I am happier with the end result.

[Kevin Jenness]

I've done it both ways. There's more handling with individual pieces but spraying flat is easier. The sides can be taller than the front and back to obviate sanding after assembly. Spraying inside boxes is not too bad. I always put the bottoms in after assembly anyway.

I would suggest some more robust form of joinery like dominos or biscuits, or even pocket screws. You won't get much strength from glue in an un-reinforced butt joint. Wax your cauls and don't over-clamp and the finish will be fine if you assemble after finishing.

[johnny means]

I've built and finished thousands of drawers over the years. I've tracked hundreds of hours actually trying to figure out the best way to do this. My data pointed to prefinishing being detrimental to productivity. Any hassle saved by prefinishing ultimately was eclipsed by adding couple of extra steps to the process. A cup of water, some rags, and a paint brush will keep glue out of your drawer boxes as well or better than taping and prefinishing in a tiny fraction of the time. A sanding sponge knocks down and raise grain in a few seconds per drawer. Spraying inside and outside the boxes at once is a marginal increase over spraying just the outside, while spraying insides before assembly more than doubles spraying time.

[Kevin Stafford]

I've built and finished thousands of drawers over the years. I've tracked hundreds of hours actually trying to figure out the best way to do this. My data pointed to prefinishing being detrimental to productivity. Any hassle saved by prefinishing ultimately was eclipsed by adding couple of extra steps to the process. A cup of water, some rags, and a paint brush will keep glue out of your drawer boxes as well or better than taping and prefinishing in a tiny fraction of the time. A sanding sponge knocks down and raise grain in a few seconds per drawer. Spraying inside and outside the boxes at once is a marginal increase over spraying just the outside, while spraying insides before assembly more than doubles spraying time.

Thanks Johnny. This advice makes sense.

Do you mind expanding on your cup of water/rag/paint brush technique a bit? I’ve used a wet rag to clean up glue squeeze out before and it seemed to smear it around more than remove it.

[johnny means]

Thanks Johnny. This advice makes sense.

Do you mind expanding on your cup of water/rag/paint brush technique a bit? I’ve used a wet rag to clean up glue squeeze out before and it seemed to smear it around more than remove it.

First step is to minimize glue mess to start. I just use a very wet rag to wipe out most of the glue. I then use a wet brush, very wet, to scrub out the corners. A clean damp rag cleans it all up. The key is liberal use of clean water and clean rags, any possible residual glue is so diluted that it would be inconsequential. I find that most people struggle with the "ritual" that I use. It feels slow and is tedious, but really eliminates post glue up processing.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I have done it both ways and it kinda depends on what your expectations are and type of finish / application. With spraying HVLP, I think I would almost certainly spray after assembly. Obviously you need to sand fully prior to assembly and do whatever it takes to mitigate / clean up glue squeeze out on the inside corners. You might consider at least a rabbet joint, glue and pin nails for the corner joints. More glue surface and at least some registration for square / flush. You can sand and finish the outside of the drawers after assembly.

I have prefinished the insides of drawers prior to assembly before but that was because of the finish I was using (Rubio) and the preferred application being flat without inside corners to deal with. There were also prefinished drawer bottoms that were integral / captured in grooves at assembly and didn’t want any of the Rubio getting on the prefinished drawer bottom. This was also a much more furniture-y piece than typical kitchen cabinetry.

I would have no problems spraying after assembly with typical cabinet style drawers, IMO.

[Tom Bender]

"building some cabinet drawers" is not the same as building a lot of them. You can spend a little more time and get a good result or take a little more risk and hope to save time.

You can touch up the planed bits with a little wipe on finish, one minute per drawer and no cleanup.

A little damage to the finish on the sides of a drawer will not be very noticeable.

[Jeff Roltgen]

I do dovetails 95% of the time, so build, then finish. I'm commercial, so no hand cuts - just a Griz dovetail machine. Prep and widebelt stock to 180 prior to machining. You'll always have some unevenness as the joints go together. So, assemble, sand edges flush, round over all exposed top edges and bottom edge, then head to finishing room. Some are pull outs, so face needs a rounding and sanding as well. Just using a gravity feed Anest-Iwata to spray.
As for glue squeeze out, in an average batch of 20-30 drawers, I'll have 1-2 that have a bead squeeze out in the inside corner. Give it a few minutes for glue to start firming, and a sharp chisel takes it cleanly and simply right out. If you miss and it cures, it still pops off with a chisel reasonably well, just have to hit it once from each side, then a third pass to release the glue bead.

Final results are smooth, level surfaces everywhere the hand hits. I've seen pre-finished material that was dovetailed and assembled, like Bertch cabinetry, where you have odd blunt round-overs and raw, unfinished tails exposed. Just don't like that "we were in a hurry" look.

However, economy drawers can be done by pre-milling, pre-finishing, then mitered with glue and cross-stitch nail pattern at the corners. I've done hundreds out of BBirch this way, and they work well, look respectable, and really are the most economical if you want a real-wood look. Yes, I've got many in my shop that have seen regular use/abuse, and those mitered corners hold up just fine.

jeff

[Kevin Stafford]

I do dovetails 95% of the time, so build, then finish. I'm commercial, so no hand cuts - just a Griz dovetail machine. Prep and widebelt stock to 180 prior to machining. You'll always have some unevenness as the joints go together. So, assemble, sand edges flush, round over all exposed top edges and bottom edge, then head to finishing room. Some are pull outs, so face needs a rounding and sanding as well. Just using a gravity feed Anest-Iwata to spray.
As for glue squeeze out, in an average batch of 20-30 drawers, I'll have 1-2 that have a bead squeeze out in the inside corner. Give it a few minutes for glue to start firming, and a sharp chisel takes it cleanly and simply right out. If you miss and it cures, it still pops off with a chisel reasonably well, just have to hit it once from each side, then a third pass to release the glue bead.

Final results are smooth, level surfaces everywhere the hand hits. I've seen pre-finished material that was dovetailed and assembled, like Bertch cabinetry, where you have odd blunt round-overs and raw, unfinished tails exposed. Just don't like that "we were in a hurry" look.

However, economy drawers can be done by pre-milling, pre-finishing, then mitered with glue and cross-stitch nail pattern at the corners. I've done hundreds out of BBirch this way, and they work well, look respectable, and really are the most economical if you want a real-wood look. Yes, I've got many in my shop that have seen regular use/abuse, and those mitered corners hold up just fine.

jeff

Thanks Jeff. For the round over you mention, are you using a router for that? What size? I was just going to ease the edges with some sandpaper.

[Bruce Wrenn]

When I was building cabinets, my drawers were prefinished. Just before glue up, I would scuff up the area to which glue would be applied, then glue and pocket screw them together. Most of these were for local "Y's," who are murder on cabinets.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Kevin:
For the round over you mention, are you using a router for that? What size?
1/8" round over bit in a Bosch Colt or battery version hand-held. Still, a quick scuff of that profile with some 180, just to make sure it feels nice and buttery.

jeff

[Billy Stray]

For many years I would buy boxes of UV finished and edge banded plywood drawer sides in 12 " widths. Then I would use a 1/4, 1/4 drawer joint to expose unfinished wood to except glue, I liked being able to wipe out glue squeeze easily with a damp rag & a putty knife
So when I'm not using prefinished drawer parts it wasn't any different to me to prefinish any drawer part prior to joinery...
Now a days everybody pretty much expects solid maple with machine cut dovetails.....
I still use my old method on shop furniture & for clients who don't have a huge budget.