Assemble before or after finishing?

[Kent Novick]

Hi all -

I'm getting ready to finish a bed for my daughter, and I'm not quite sure of the best way to do it. The headboard and footboard are connected by the side rails with knock-down fasteners. I had originally planned to finish the four pieces separately before assembly, in order to be able to finish the "exposed" areas where the ends of the rails meet the head and foot boards. This would require many stages, however, with propping the pieces up, finishing part of them, drying, turning them over, etc.

Would you recommend doing it this way, or finishing it assembled? I'm a bit concerned about not getting the areas around the fasteners, although I suppose I could go back and do them later, hopefully being able to feather it into the rest of the finish. The bed is walnut, and the finish will be BLO, garnet shellac, and Daly's Ben Matte.

In short, how do you recommend finishing a piece where the joinery is "temporary."

Thanks much for any suggestions.

[Von Bickley]

For a bed, I think I would finish the 4 pieces separately.....:)

[Jay Jolliffe]

Von's right. It would be a lot easier to finish the pieces & then put it together.

[Sam Yerardi]

I agree. My general approach is the larger the parts are in the assembly (as with a bed), the more I'm inclined to finish the parts separately. The smaller the parts (as in a chair or small cabinet) the more I will typically finish after assembly. That's just me and there's no rule about it.

[Kent Novick]

Thanks, guys. Looks like that's probably the best way to get the proper finish. I appreciate the help!