Help with project

[Nancy Strevelowski]

Hi all,

I'm working on a nightstand, nothing is glued up yet, and my question should i stain this before glueing?

[Cary Falk]

I always glue up everything up and then stain except for a coat rack that had a lot of 3/4" x 3/$" boards athat wer separated but the same spaces that I thought would be a pain. If it were me I would glue up that piece up first.

[Brian Henderson]

There doesn't seem to be any areas that would be inaccessible after gluing so glue first. If there are things you just won't be able to get to, you can stain those, just make sure you tape off glue surfaces so they don't get stained.

[Paul F Franklin]

Personally, I prefer to pre-finish as much as possible, especially when using stain. You don't have to worry about glue stains affecting the stain or finish. Generally get better results and so much easier to get even results when using stain. It's so hard to get even staining in corners when done after glue up, but easy in the flat. And having the topcoats on, or at least a coat or two of shellac makes any glue squeeze out easy to remove. Usually pops right off after it dries.

You do want to avoid getting lots of finish on glue surfaces, but I rarely have to result to tape; I just use a little care when applying the finish. If a little spot or two gets on a tenon or the like it's not going to matter.

Now if there are surfaces that have to be flushed after assembly, say some dovetails left a little proud, then you may not be able to pre-finish those areas, but in that case, I will still do the insides of the parts.

There's no right or wrong; most times you can do fine either way.

[Steve Eure]

It's sometimes easier to stain some parts that may be inaccessible after glue up so I stain first and sometimes will topcoat also. I always avoid the glue surface area but have heard that stains don't affect glue like topcoats do. I have no experience with that one so I will continue doing as I have in the past. I wouldn't want a project falling apart after all that work because of hearsay.

[Jim Becker]

Some projects benefit from pre-coloring before glue-up, particularly if there will be any contrasting colors. The tack trunk commission I'm working on right now is such a case because the "panels" of the simulated frame and panel design needs to be dyed and the trim does not. How good you are at working stain/dye in tight spaces also matters, as does the particular product you are using to color your work. Most of the time, this is a subjective decision.

[George Bokros]

Corners are always a challenge. I for sure stain first at a minimum when doing things with panels like raised panel doors or flat panel doors so that the entire piece is stained so if there is wood movement I do not get a unfinished line. Like said you must mask off any areas that will get glued prior to finishing so glue will adhere.

[Phil Mueller]

Hi Nancy, all good advice above. Can’t add much. If you do decide to glue first, then stain, you can wipe the glued corners with denatured alcohol. It will show if there is any glue residue that needs to be removed before staining. In fact, I typically will wipe all areas of a project with DNA...in addition to any glue, it will show light scratches, dents, etc., that I can then address before finishing.

Nice table, by the way!

[Lee Schierer]

I use both methods depending upon what I'm making.

You can't go wrong staining before glue up as long as you don't get excessive stain on the glue contact areas. If you assemble it wit glue and get too much glue, in a hard to reach area it can be a pain to clean it up. A little bit of stain on a surface to receive glue isn't a problem as long as it is fully dried before you do apply the glue.

You can tape areas to be glued with painters tape to protect them while staining. You can also use painters tape to protect corners and joints from squeezed out glue by placing the tape exactly even with the edge.

[Wayne Lomman]

If possible, do the top and shelf separately but stain the rest as after gluing up. This is the way I do it for this style of furniture in a production environment. However, there is nothing wrong with staining and seal coating before assembly provided that you mask the areas where the glue goes. Contrary to other opinions, some types of stains do contaminate the glue surfaces so protect them. Doing it first in your case will also give you a better chance at colour matching at the staining stage. An extra application of stain to blend in the lighter areas will make a worthwhile difference. Cheers

[Jim Becker]

Yea, I always mask off glue areas when pre-finishing components.