Replies

1. 
   HowardAcheson | Mar 26, 2007 08:24pm | #1

   Shellac or waterborne acrylic.

   Howie.........
2. 
   terrylee86 | Mar 26, 2007 11:58pm | #2

   Ditto, you can even apply both of those finishes with a lint free rag.

3. 
   InMyOpinion | Mar 27, 2007 12:23am | #3

   Not that you need any more convincing; but Andy Rae, in a video, mentions shellac as being the answer. He does so in an almost comical way, as if to say "apply anything else, and you'll be reminded for decades every time you open the drawer".

   (Maybe I'm unrefined, but I don't finish drawer interiors. I like them so, and my wife would line them if they were stainless steel.)

4. 
   Rich14 | Mar 27, 2007 07:53pm | #4

   I'm with Howie. Nothing more to say, except do it! Actually, I find the best way is to prefinish drawers before assembling them.

   Either way, pre-finished, or finished after glue-up, etc, nothing could be less complicated than using shellac or a water borne acrylic for this task. Don't leave them unfinished.

   Rich

5. 
   Kevin | Mar 28, 2007 12:11am | #5

   I've finished the inside of drawers with both conversion varnish and with lacquer, whichever I happen to be finishing the exterior with. I've never noticed lingering smells after a couple days of dry time. But then again my sensitivity isn't all that great. Since I work with solvents on a daily basis I've become so used to the smells that I just mentally tune them out.

   As far as technique the one thing that I've found really helps a lot is to finish the drawer with the draw bottom removed. Whether you're spraying, as I do, or wiping/brushing, it's easier to finish a two-sided inside corner than it is to finish a three-sided inside corner. I finish the bottom seperately and once it's all dry just reassemble. If you're worried about getting too much finish material into the draw bottom slot on your drawer sides then just rip a strip of whatever is handy to slide into the slot. That'll keep it clean and still leave the finish task easier than if the bottom was in.

6. 
   Pondfish | Mar 28, 2007 01:26pm | #6

   shellac, applied before assembly if possible.

   wax the sides if you aren't using slides to make them work easier, too.

   Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
7. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 28, 2007 01:53pm | #7

   Good responses to the original question, right from the beginning.  I would point out that if you are making period reproductions eighteen century furniture had unfinished drawers.   

1. 
   joinerswork | Mar 28, 2007 02:49pm | #8

   Steve,

   Very true about 18th century drawers being left unfinished.  My experience early on however, is that 20th century customers expect drawers to be finished.   After getting a couple of call-backs that I'd "forgotten" to finish the drawers on a piece I'd delivered, I began lightly staining and finishing the drawers of my furniture.

   Regards,

   Ray

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 28, 2007 02:59pm | #9

   This is the advantage of having only one customer--me.  I've even done some things--like making drawers with the grain of the bottom board running front to back, and nailed to the bottom of the drawer sides.  Of course, this is just how John Townsend made all the drawers on his tables and otherwise quite "wrong".  The ones in museums that I've seen are all split, but mine haven't after about half a dozen years or more.  They don't stick in summer either, but that's because I made them a bit on the sloppy side and used quartersawn white pine for the drawer bottom. 

    

1. 
   joinerswork | Mar 28, 2007 04:42pm | #10

   Steve,

   Did you glue block them all round?  Seen lots of old ones done that way.  Many Brit drawer bottoms run front to back, with a "mullion" in the center, into which the paired bottoms are let into a groove, dividing the movement in two.  Not a bad idea, that.  I often tongue and groove  side-to-side bottoms together (no glue), and glueblock the wider of the two pieces (which I place against the front) at the center of its width to the drawer's sides.  The narrow "half" of the bottom gets nailed to the drawer back, essentially dividing the movement of the bottom in three--either side of the glueblocks, and from the back.  You are right, qtrsawn is good for drawer bottoms.

   Regards,

   Ray

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Mar 28, 2007 05:09pm | #11

   No, these are worse than that--though I have seen lots with glue blocks, including at least one where the glue blocks are still in their original places w/o regluing according to the museum curator.  (Colonial Williamsburg)

   In the Townsend tables, the drawers just run on the drawer bottoms which are nailed directly to the bottom of the drawer sides.  (Some larger drawers have a drawer "glide" of a hardwood tacked to the drawer bottom, but that wasn't done on the drawers in the Pembroke table or card table.) 

   Does seem strange from one of the finest cabinetmakers in America, especially given the complicated sliding dovetail mounting system he used to attach tops to cabinets so as to allow for movement.  Of course, tops show and drawers don't.