Glue up after staining

[Aaron Beaver]

Anyone done it? I really need to stain all those little stiles before I do the glue up since the space is very tight in between them. In doing that I have to tape off everything, no big deal, but I am worried about excess glue when I glue up.

Will it wipe right off or is there something else I need to do? Really I would rather glue it up first but it would be a harder to stain. I thought about wrapping tape around the ends of the stiles after the stain dried but that would only work for the top of the stile because the glue will want to run down, so on the bottom it will want to run out on the rail. Suggestions welcome.

Mission Bed 023-2.jpg

[Todd Burch]

You can stain and topcoat prior to glue up. I do it a lot. That looks like a good candidate.

If you put the glue in the mortise, as opposed to on the tenon, you'll make less of a mess when assembling. Tape the ends of the spindles prior to staining/topcoating. Don't tape too far down - give yourself 1/4" up into the mortise.

Go ahead and finish the whole kit and kaboodle too prior to assembly. Any glue squeeze out wipes off really easy with warm water when it's on top of a topcoat.

If you were only considering staining and not topcoating prior to glue up - I would not recommend it. Do it all, or do none.

Also, make this a lesson for yourself in using a minimal amout of glue. And, let the glue sit a minute or so prior to assembling to let it soak into the wood and get a little tacky. Less chance of a run.

Todd

[Ed Peters]

this is the perfect candidate for spraying the stain. Something I don't do very often but in this case I think I would. Don't get me wrong, I love spraying. Lacquer or Poly though. Almost never spray stain. I enjoy rubbing it in by hand. In the case of this project, I would probably put some stain in an old windex bottle or other pump spray which produces a mist. Spray it on then wipe off the excess.

Ed

[Aaron Beaver]

You can stain and topcoat prior to glue up. I do it a lot. That looks like a good candidate.

If you put the glue in the mortise, as opposed to on the tenon, you'll make less of a mess when assembling. Tape the ends of the spindles prior to staining/topcoating. Don't tape too far down - give yourself 1/4" up into the mortise.

Go ahead and finish the whole kit and kaboodle too prior to assembly. Any glue squeeze out wipes off really easy with warm water when it's on top of a topcoat.

If you were only considering staining and not topcoating prior to glue up - I would not recommend it. Do it all, or do none.

Also, make this a lesson for yourself in using a minimal amout of glue. And, let the glue sit a minute or so prior to assembling to let it soak into the wood and get a little tacky. Less chance of a run.

Todd

Thanks for the suggestions, at least I know it can and has been done so that eases my mind. I have just have never done it before, but as long as the glue come off easy then it should be okay.

this is the perfect candidate for spraying the stain. Something I don't do very often but in this case I think I would. Don't get me wrong, I love spraying. Lacquer or Poly though. Almost never spray stain. I enjoy rubbing it in by hand. In the case of this project, I would probably put some stain in an old windex bottle or other pump spray which produces a mist. Spray it on then wipe off the excess.

Ed

Wish I have a HVLP spray gun, have almost bought one on two different occasions just never have, mostly because I don't have a booth and would have rig something up every time I wanted to spray.

The Windex bottle is a cool idea though, hadn't heard of that one. I could always set up some tarps to catch the over spray so it didn't get everywhere. Been leaning toward using Watco Danish Oil in the Walnut color, will do test pieces first to see if I like it but leaning that way.

[Heather Thompson]

I took a six week class in 2005 at RoseWood Studio In Almonte Ontario, all projects were prefinished before glue up. Any squeeze out was left to dry and then just removed with a sharp chisel, it would crack right off with no residue left on the finished piece.

Heather