To Prefinish or not

[John Hedges]

I am working on a mission style entertainment cabinet. I cant believe all of the small little pieces involved in doing mission style work. I know I should prefinish the panels but now I am thinking it might be easier to prefinish the whole thing before assembly. I am going with the 4 step process of a dye, followed by shellac, followed by a gel stain, followed by varnish, so my other question is if I prefinish should a do all the steps to all the pieces or leave the varnish, and possibly the gel stain for after assembly. Here is a pic of a side that I dry fitted for an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hedgehog55/TV%20Stand/IMG_2320.jpg?t=1225724910

[Joe Scharle]

I try to prefinish as much as possible as I find it easier to work with smaller pieces. Some assemblies lend themselves readily to prefinishing while others don't. I have to look at each piece to see if it will work, however panels almost are always good candidates.

[Lee Schierer]

I prefinish pieces that may shrink due to seasonal changes that would show light colored wood. Since the first coat of finish leaves a rough suface that needs to be lightly sanded, I also prefinish pieces that may be hard to sand once assembled. If you pre finish make sure you cover the areas to receive glue, other wise you could reduce the joint strength.

[Jim Becker]

I like to pre-finish to the extent that I can take care of spraying things flat when it's practical to do so. Even with hand finishing, there are sometimes advantages to pre-finishing sub-assemblies just for easier handling and better light availability during the process. While the extra time for masking glue areas is what it is, I find it worth the effort most of the time.

[Ted Shrader]

John -

Definitely recommend you pre-finish. I built a mission headboard and footboard and did not pre-finish. Bad move. Pre-finished the chest of drawers, dresser and night stands. Life, at that point, was much easier.

There are so many square corner recesses in mission style that pre-finishing is the way to go. As Lee said, make sure you cover the areas where there will be glue.

Regards,
Ted