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wood furniture finishing

S

sonambulo

Diamond Member
when you're finishing the drawers of a piece...do you apply stain to the face only? or should you apply it to the sides and back?
 
You do not want to finish the bottom or sides, internal or external.

It's not a "work saving" thing, it's a wood expansion thing.

If you'll notice, most drawer bottoms are free floating in a groove; that allows the wood to expand and contract with the heat & humidity. If you glues (or finish with a coating that binds the parts together), when the wood expands and contracts, it either bust the joints or crack the wood.

Solid wood (i.e., not composit, particle board, or plywood) tabletops are never fixed: They attach the tabletop with clips in a groove that allow the table top to swell and contract without damaging the base or top.

The above only applies to solid wood. Composits or plywood do not expand and contract the way a solid piece of wood wil (they do, but it's benign to the construction).

In any case where you have intersecting / perpendicular grain, you do not wat a fixed joint. It'll eventually crack or break the joint.


FWIW

Scott
 
scott, you the man. i'm still gonna sand that siht smooth though.

eh....the stain is still a little bit tacky after twenty four hours. whit should i do now?
 
The stain is tacky?

What kind did you use? (oil / water based, danish oil ... ), Did you apply it, let it sit for a while and rub it off, or did you just leave it on?

You can probably hit it with a hair dryer for a bit and see if it sets thing up some. DON"T get it too hot! warm air only, from a distance.

Be prepared to have to hit it with some steel wool when you're done.

Good Luck

Scott


 
If it's still tacky (it probably will be) after a while with the hair dryer, then use some solvent (water for water-based stuff) and rub off the excess.

With some exceptions, you are usually supposed to put the stain on, leave it for "a while" (follow the directions on the can 😉 )then rub off the excess.

If you leave it on, it's likely to weaken or FUBAR the final finsih.

(also important, shake it / mix it well before use most stains will separate with only a little static time)

Good Luck

Scott
 
Although I don't think he needs to, applying boiled linseed or tung oil (not with varnish) won't cause the sides of the drawer to crack.

Regarding the "stickiness" problem...

The more humid and or colder the temp, the longer it takes.
 
Originally posted by: sonambulo
crap. out of solvent and no hardware stores are open. after i rub off the stain, isn't it going to look awful?
Click to expand...

Stain is generally made to wipe off, otherwise it just gets gummy and sticky 😛
 
Originally posted by: sonambulo
yeah but what happens once i've wiped off the sticky stuff?
Click to expand...

I guess I am confused as to what you are doing. Stains are usually wiped on then off, then a topcoat of whatever goes on. There are "one step" finishing products, but they suck.


Where are you in the finishing process, and what are you (specifically) using?
 
i put on one really thick coat of stain and left it on (didnt wipe any of it off) overnight. it's still pretty tacky.

also, i just went in and noticed that my roommate dropped a piece of paper on it and there's a nice mark from it on one of the drawer faces. yay.
 
Hmm. I don't know what to tell you. You need to get some mineral spirits or something and take that off. You should have let it on for a few minutes and then wiped it off. You now have a semi polymerized mess.

Ok, tomorrow wipe it off with solvent, and see how it looks. Birch is reasonably forgiving, so it may be ok. Otherwise you are going to have to strip/sand it and start over.

When you say birch, is it solid wood or ply?
 
Originally posted by: sonambulo
solid
Click to expand...

Good, because you can sand further if you need to.

You are going to be OK, but get that gunk off.

When you do, get back to us and let us know how it looks. Pics would be VERY helpful.

How did you plan on topcoating this when done?
 
polyurethane. you think the grocery store will sell any kind of solvents? i dont want this crap to set for another 24 hours.

also, pics arent going to be possible. no digi 🙁
 
Originally posted by: sonambulo
polyurethane. you think the grocery store will sell any kind of solvents? i dont want this crap to set for another 24 hours.

also, pics arent going to be possible. no digi 🙁
Click to expand...

Do you have a 24 hour Walmart near? They may well have what you need.
 
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