Sequence question

[tim walker]

Getting close to finishing a project. It will have two doors on either side and six drawers mounted on full extension slides for the inside. My question regards finishing sequences. Do you apply your finish before assembly then touch up or do you assemble and then apply finish? Or any other sequence that has worked well for you. TIA.

[Kevin Jenness]

Fit the drawers and drawer fronts, finish, then final assembly. No touchup should be needed. It's easier to finish flat parts, easier to move things around separately and hard to get in corners and avoid fouling hardware when finishing assembled work.

[John TenEyck]

I finish doors and drawer fronts the same as Kevin said. I finish drawers and cabinet boxes after assembly because it avoids getting finish on areas you don't want finish on, like joint glue surfaces, and because I often have to flush parts after glue up to get things to look right. If there's hardware, I remove it for finishing. I might finish the inside surfaces of a cabinet before assembly, if they will be seen in use, but never those that contain drawers because they won't be seen. For cabinets I can reach into with my spray gun, I still prefer to finish after assembly. Just the way I do things.

John

[Kevin Jenness]

I didn't mean to suggest finishing drawer box parts (except bottoms) prior to assembly, that takes extra time. I build most cabinets with prefinished ply, so either the insides get masked or, occasionally, the face frames go on after finish. When assembled boxes are finished the backs or bottoms are done separately.

[Stan Calow]

Pros and cons both ways. I've settled on doing the stain/dye before assembly, and top coat after, unless it's something like danish oil in which case it's a case by case decision based on how complicated it is.