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Should you finish wood before assembly?
Staining before assembly prevents glue from getting on the wood surface which tends to seal out stain and produce uneven color. Staining first also ensures complete stain coverage, especially in hard-to-reach areas. You should always do a color test on a small and hidden portion of the kit.
Do you sand before or after assembly?
You should sand the parts to some extent before you assemble it but do a finer sanding after it is assembled. When assembling a project you might get it wet from cleaning glue off or a clamp might make a slight mark or other damage so a project always needs a final sanding after you put it together.
Should I drill holes before or after staining?
You can finish first or drill first, your choice. Drilling first then finishing will result in (at least some) of the varnish getting into the holes, which will not really add any value I can think of and perhaps cause you to re-drill the holes to the proper size prior to inserting the wood inserts and grommet.
How do you prepare wood for gluing?
All you need to do to prepare wood for glueing is to ‘clean’ the surface. This can actually just be cleaning in the literal sense of the word since a wipe down with soapy water (followed by rinsing with clean water), or using one of a number of solvents, is sufficient in some instances.
When do you need to finish before assembly?
When to finish before assembly. Most of us apply linear thinking to project building: Cut parts to size, fasten them together, and then apply finish. But good woodworkers don’t always finish last. In some cases, it makes sense to apply finish before you glue parts together.
What should I do before or after pre-finishing?
Regardless of finish type though, one very important aspect of any degree of pre-finishing is protecting your mating surfaces as you touch on in the Question. Joints must remain bare wood or the strength of the glued join is severely compromised. Should I: Dry fit, glue, sand, finish?
What kind of stain to use before assembly?
Stain, especially a gel type, collects in those hard-to-reach areas, creating a blotch. Staining a partial assembly provides better access to its interior. Painter’s tape masks glue surfaces for the face frame added later. Some projects may have parts with different shades of finish, or stained parts next to unstained parts.
When to finish before assembly-Wood Magazine magazine?
Brushing on the stain (and later, the topcoat) before glue-up gives you easy access to all sides of the spindles, as well as the full edges of the rails, and avoids uneven coloring from stain stuck in confined places. Painter’s tape keeps finish off the tenons, preserving a clean surface for glue-up.