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Thread: How do I protect dados when prefinishing

  1. #1

    How do I protect dados when prefinishing

    I am getting ready to pre-finish a large glue up that has many dados. How do I protect the data so that they do not get finish in them?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    River Falls WI
    Posts
    490
    I use Blue Painters tape, get it wider than the dado Press in the middle first, then to the sides. Or if you only have narrow tape start down the Middle and then do the sides. Dan

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
    Posts
    1,417
    not sure if it will work with dados, depends on how deep / wide they are maybe. But when I pre-finish, I use backer rod in the mortises to keep them clean. Works great. Or search for weather strip - hundreds of shapes and sizes. You might get lucky and find just the right thing.

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    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    I tape them up, generally with blue tape. Yes, it can be tedious, but the easier "flat" finishing and end result is much preferred.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    I cut dados using router with a reverse helix cutter, AFTER applying finish. Reverse helix cutter is a down shear cutter, so edges of dado are clean..

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    SoCal
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    22,492
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    Tape here as well. I have also used foam backer rod and keep a few sizes around the shop.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Crozet, VA
    Posts
    645
    I don’t do a lot of prefinishing so this might be a stupid idea, but if the dados are a standard size (say 3/4”), maybe you could just cut small strips of plywood and place them in the dados as “masking” while finishing and then pull them out.
    There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.” - Dave Barry

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    I don’t use dados that often, but last time I just cut strips from a piece that was the same thickness as what was going into the dado at a height just shy of flush and pressed them in while finishing.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    2,758
    My normal finishing schedule lets me repair easily so some joinery gets cut after prefinishing.

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