I’ve complete building an armoire/entertainment center except for the finish. Need direction on whether to finish or assemble first. Both options have potential problems. The armoire is crafted from 3/4″ solid alder panels inserted into groves in the 2.5″ square frame. There are a total of 12 floating panels including the 2 upper and 2 lower raised panel doors. I am spraying the same multi-step finish system the manufactuer of several other pieces we own uses. It consists of a toner coat, sealer coat, glaze coat, watermark coat, and final clear finish. If I assemble the piece first, the risk is shrinking or shifting panels revealing an unfinshed surface and the challenge of uniformly removing the glaze from tight spots (the glaze is wiped off with a rag after application). Alternatively, if I finish the parts prior to assembly, there will be a lot of extra work associated with masking all surfaces to later be glued (mostly tongue and groove joints in frame) and handling about 70 individual components during the spraying process. I am totally stumped on this one…HELP!
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Consider the option of completing all stages of the finishing routine for all hidden parts prior to assembly.
For show parts, you might do all stages except the final clear coat which would be applied after assembly. With luck, this should keep the amount of masking off you have to do to a minimum. Slainte, RJ.
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Patrick,
When I do a panel/frame piece I finish the panels before assembly and everything else after. IMHO this need not be an either/or question.
Alan
Thanks Alan. I would normally agree if using just a simple stain and one could blend the newly finished stiles and rails into the panel for example. But, because of the multi-step finish, I would have to mask the panel when finishing the frame, stiles, and rails. I'm concerned that about masking lines at the tape edge where the bare and previously finished surfaces meet (especially with the black glaze material), and may also risk color variations in the finish since they were applied at separate times.
-Patrick
I don’t know if you have used Alder before, but in my experience it displays a tremendous amount of shrinkage. I recently had to make a small kitchen cabinet, where the originals had very little grain pattern. The only wood I could find that seemed to match, was Alder. I happened to go back a few months later, and I was shocked by the huge gap between the doors, the same doors that nearly rubbed each other, now had a 3/8" gap between them. To make a long story short, I’d find away to pre-finish the panels.
It's difficult to spray toners evenly unless you work with flat panels. Same problem with glazes in corners. I would finish prior to assembly.
I am curious to know what a "watermark" coat is - what material and it's purpose?
Consider the design of the piece as you prepare for finishing. Can you dry fit or glue-up any pieces and still have flat panels only? For example, I'm finishing a corner cabinet with T&G boards that make up the back to the piece. I have fit the boards together and laid them flat with an 1/8" gap between each board. I sprayed the first coat yesterday - the T&G portions of the boards remained untouched except for the 1/8" that may eventually be partially exposed if expansion/contraction occurs. After the color coats have been applied, I will close the gap so that the clear coats will not interfere with the boards fitting tightly together. Using this technique, I avoided taping the 14 boards the make up the back.
Thanks for your thoughts. Your spacing idea sounds like a good one - although probably won't work in this particular piece (wish I could attach a photo). The watermark is a very highly diluted black paint or glaze that is spattered on to leave the very faint appearance of a water droplet marks. It seems to add a bit of texture to an otherwise one-dimensional finish.
-patrick
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