Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Oct 12, 2010 08:44am | #1

   Shellac or Nothing

   I was recently reading a piece about this in another woodworking publication, not FWW magazine.  It was by a restorer who worked at a museum and he said he had never seen a single piece with drawers that had the interior finished.  So leaving the wood bare is an historically accurate approach.  

   Shellac will work well and won't leave an odor and is what is usually recommended.  It is what I use.   I have seen claims that some of the water based finishes are odor free when dry but I don't know for sure if this is true and it may not apply to all water based finishes.

2. 
   bones | Oct 12, 2010 09:18am | #2

   leave it bare

   I've have never finished the insides of drawers.  It is just not necessary (IMO).  I was concerned about some finish seeping into the clothing or staining or something.  My wife stores our childrens baby blankets (one's in the army and the other in high school) and other clothing keepsakes.  I always thought of that during construction of any thing that migh hold something special.  If you think about it , it's on the inside and what you are storing in the drawer is not going to wear on the surface.  I also like the natural patina of wood as it ages.   I've got one the crude first  pieces I ever did way back when and it just looks better all the time. 

   If you have an existing piece that has a stinking drawer a cover of shellac should seal it and it will cover an oil finish.   When it comes to drawers(all sides except fronts) I leave them naked.  to grease the skids so to speak I just use a bit if wax once a year and reccomend the same to the few pieces in the hands of others that I've made.  

1. 
   joinerswork | Oct 13, 2010 09:58am | #3

   All,

   If one is working for one's self, no finish is certainly a viable, and traditional, option.

   Consider that for a customer who is used to buying commercial furniture, unfinished drawers are just that- not yet finished.  A paying customer who is expecting a finished surface inside and out may not be satisfied with an explanation of "that's the way they used to do it".

   I got a couple call-backs--"Uh, Ray, I think you forgot something..." early on in my career, when I was more of a purist in my reproductions. The appearance of raw wood against finished when the drawer is pulled open strikes a discordant note to modern sensibilities. In an antique that has mellowed patinaed interior surfaces, this is not  the case.

   Now, if  my conversation with the client beforehand does not indicate that he is a purist in his expectations, I use a light stain and enough finish to seal the interior without it looking too "slick," which satisfies both the buyer's, and my, esthetic sensibilities.

   Interestingly, I've never gotten a callback on "stinky" finished drawer interiors, which, even on an iol-finished piece, are typically sprayed lacquer when not shellac.  Most people, if they make a comment, remark on  that fresh finish's pleasant "new smell".

   Ray

1. 
   bones | Oct 13, 2010 10:18am | #4

   I hear ya

   I fully understand that what the client wants (and are willing to pay for) is what they should get.  If a finish is a must shellac would be my choice since it's been used for eons to cover oders and stains (just think of kilz) and its a breez to put on and if you do screw it up (don't know how) you can just wipe it off and do it again.  I would stay away fro an oil though.  It's all good!