When to Finish Jarrah

The wedding gift is progressing, and I'm now at the point where I need to sand and assemble. (Pic below of side panels if I can figure out how to post it). Have not started on drawers yet, will wait until after assembly so I'll only have to make them once.

I plan to finish with one or two coats of ubeaut hard shellac, with two or three coats of ubeaut traditional wax. I'm still doing some experimenting with off cuts (mistakes) to see which application method, sealer/no sealer, etc looks best.

Question is, should I put the shellac on before gluing it up?

In some ways it seems easier, as it is a bunch of smaller pieces and I understand glue spills would be easier to clean up. In other ways it seems more difficult. How do you coat all sides of the legs, taping off the tenons, how to keep shellac out of the mortises and grooves, etc.

Also, if I shellac first I could shellac the interior. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, as most of my old (pre WW2) furniture is unfinished on the interior and seems to have lasted pretty well. (Seem to remember a thread on this a few weeks ago, so maybe I'll just look it up and not reignite)

So, what is the collective wisdom?

Shellac first or assemble first?

Thanks and Merry Christmas,

Tex

Oh yeah. The panels are brimsboard. Still amazed at how well they match the timber, and Brims were a pleasure to deal with as well.

Wow. Not sure how I've managed to offend everyone. Was actually hoping for a bit of advice.

Feeling kind of lonely ..... :(

Tex

Sorry to hear that you are lonely. Maybe everybody is as amazed as me at the quality of your work so far, beautiful. I don't know enough about this game to comment on process though

Regards
Dave52

I can't help you with an answer but I am waiting too on some replies as you have posed a question that I was close to asking.

I am curious too as to which method you ended up using and the results.

Maybe everyone has gone away for xmas already....:rolleyes:

Regards

Neil

Both ways have pros and cons. Easier to do while apart but then likely to get bumped during assembly. Harder to do when finished but then it's all done at the same time.

Lots of people still stuck at work looking for some people to keep them sane but also some do not offer comments if unsure. Me I just like to crap on, lol. Hope it works out well.

Hmm, yep I see your delimma, maybe a balanced approach, glue a panel together, shellac it, dry, light sand, repeat as needed. The point of this is to get a good first seal on it, maybe both inside and out. Hopefully this won't be as difficult as sealing it when fitted together, as getting into tight corners can be difficult.

Good Luck and looking forward to more photos.

cheers
RR

Thanks guys. Not feeling quite so forlorn.

Rumor has it that Mrs Tex has bought me a Metabo duo sander for Christmas. Since I'll wait until next week to sand anyway, no rush on settling this question.

Also still experimenting with finishes on scraps.

I'll resurrect the post after Christmas and see if anyone's reading by then.

Tex

I generally do what Rufflyrustic said - shellac before assembly. You may need to put masking tape on pieces such as mortise and tenons that will eventually be glued.

The shellac will raise the grain and a light hand sand with 320 or higher will fill and seal leaving you with a nice surface.

Sealing on both sides of timber is important to equalise the moisture content on both sides equally which lessens distortion.

g'day Tex
Nice work so far.
I'm not that qualified to give an opinion on the order other than to say I've tried it both ways (no smart comments please) and they're equally a PITA. And because its such a PITA (finishing that is), I've done a bit of research on the subject. There is a view published in various fora that suggests anything other than a sanding to 1200g is not really necessary. The theory being that any timber will develop its unique patina over time.

Looking at your panels as they are I'd suggest that Jarrah is an ideal candidate for this theory.

I'm a bit of an experimenter (as my waste bin attests :() and I don't think you would lose anything leaving it unadorned by finishes such as shellac, wax or whatever. Leave it 12 months and see what happens. IMHO.
Cheers

Hi Tex,

I'm hardly an expert here, so take this with a bucket of salt, but I'm beginning to tend towards a dilute coat of de-waxed shellac from uncle Neil prior to assembly, mainly to act as a sealer, followed when dry (within a couple of hours) by a light rub with 1200 or so wet&dry - assuming that the underlying timber has been scraped / sanded to at least that before applying the finish.

By doing this, any glue run-out is much more readily removed - though I still assidiously mop around with a water-dampened cloth after clamping to remove as much squeezze-out as possible.

Then assemble (dry to check, then glued or whatever), and apply and second and maybe third coat of barely diluted shellac (de waxed or hard, depending on anticipated usage).

Another light sanding, then EEE followed by traditional wax.

If using Danish oil, then I still apply the first coat before assembly, but make sure that I mask up the joint areas otherwise there'll be issues with glueing...

Cheers!

Yep just mask the joints