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I have always stained after I glued up, but have always had problems with uneven application since I have to put the stain on heavier in the corners. Despite efforts to blend, I always end up with some uneveniness. Recently, I thought that it might be better to try to deal with any glue squeeze-out and joint gaps after staining and before finishing. Dyes seem especially forgiving with these kinds of corrections. Any opinions?
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Terrance, I suppose there are situations where you might want to stain first?, but I'd stick with the stain later crowd. Me, I'd rather be able to clean up glue, last minute sanding or other tweaking rather than doing it later with stain in the way and possibly interferring with the glue or vice-a-versa. Having too much stain in the corners or other areas has never been a problem for me. Hope this helps.
*I would guess that the extra stain left in the corners, are because they are not a smooth as the rest of the surface, since it is very hard to sand in these areas. Stain will appear darker on less smooth areas. I think careful sanding will go a long way towards fixing this problem. I have prefinished some items, before assembly, such as raised panels, but it is very risky, to have a completely finished surface, with a lot of work left to do. You may want to try dyes in the future, they don’t seem to be as affected by these problems.
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