finishing inside furniture?

Hi all,

Am I "supposed" to finish inside a cabinet with anything?

I am building a TV/video cabinet out of recycled Blackbutt. It will have three drawers made of plywood with false fronts.

Until now with restoration projects I've never bothered doing much to any of the bits that aren't visible from the outside. But I figure that all of them have been finished "properly" at some stage in the past.

This is the first time I'm building something from scratch.

The outside will be two coats of Danish Oil and some carnauba wax.

Steph

Hi Steph,

There is a thread that includes a good discussion on this somewhere, I'll have to and search for it.

But from memory, it was suggested to finish the inside of the piece before it's put together. To stop finish getting on the to-be-glued areas, one suggestion was to use masking tape.

If you do get glue on the finished area inside, it should be much easier to clean off, than if the timber were unfinished.

Cheers
Wendy

I was always taught that what you do to one side of the wood you should do to the other where possible. Wood sealed on one side allows moisture in unevenly and could cause warping. As with all things, rules are made for the guidance of wise men and the observance of fools.

jerryc

You're a bit of a philosopher, aren't you Jerry?

"No one man has all the answers"

"Rules are made for the guidance of wise men and the observance of fools"

I think it's wise to finish both the inside and the outside of your cabinets and foolish to leave it up to fate.

Ok thanks that makes sense I will oil the inside of the carcase. Not sure if I will do it before glueing up on this project given that I only get 3h of machine/glueup time a week (at class) and the next one is tonite.

But what about plywood drawers? Worth sealing them?

Steph

Silent ???? c. With 89452 messages to your credit, surely you are too modest.

jerryc

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89452

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Hmm, stronger on philosophy than maths I see :)

:bowdown: Stop fighting my children.

We are not fighting, Mr Wong. I am merely commenting on Jerry's penchant for philosophical musings and he is commenting on my ironic user name, although you are actually one of the very few people on here who has ever actually heard me :wink:

yes seal all the insides and under tops etc, or it will likely warp or twist...:)

All the old stuff you see was never finished on the inside and it survived, some of quite well too.

Al :)

Sorry Silent sir. Not a maths problem, merely a typo.

Thought as much but you don't think I got to 8000 plus posts by letting things like that pass by uncommented on, do you :U

Al's way ahead of me though :-

Err... did anyone tell me whether to seal the plywood drawers yet or are you all too busy arguing amongst yourselves :q?

I didn't answer because I'm undecided. Plywood isn't really subject to the same problems as solid timber. I think if you finish one side of it, you should finish the other, but beyond that, I don't really know if it is necessary or not.

For me, it's an appearance thing. I think a cabinet should look as good inside as it does out. If that means finishing everything in sight, then by all means. I think panels should definitely be finished both sides. Frame members you might get away with.

I tried to find something on it in the books I've got here but drew a blank.

All the old furniture was never sealed on the inside, this includes drawers.

A :)

All of it?

Well, I don't know about all of it, but I guess most of the old pine frame and ply wardrobes and chests of drawers I've ever looked inside were unfinished. I've not looked inside or underneath many antiques though.

Interesting topic. It's one of those things I took for granted that you would do on any bit of 'fine furniture' but I can't find anything that says it's even recommended, let alone mandatory. The texts tend to be along the lines of "if you intend to finish the inside, then it's sometimes best to do it before assembly", which implies that it's optional.

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Originally Posted by silentC

All of it?

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It was, and still is, built to a budget, go to any furniture shop and have a look inside the furniture, its not finished.

The only people who finish the inside of furniture are hobbyists.

Al :)

Looks better finished on the inside. I suppose its a matter of design too and where the cabinet was placed. If it was a piece that would be positioned at eye level and unfinished parts would be visible when opening a door or drawer then it would be better finished on both sides for appearance sake. Haven't taken much notice before but checking out a few local furniture stores. I found the furniture I looked at wasn't actually finished on the inside.

Steph - digging deep into my memory here. Chests of drawers, anything that will hold clothes or even food? were not finished inside e.g. only the front of the drawer would be finished. I think this is to ensure that the contents do not take up the finish, colour and smell.

Personally, I would finish the inside of the tv cabinet, but I wouldn't be inclined to oil it. My very personal preference would be for shellac. However, I'm not building the project, you are, so it's your choice. Does that make sense?:?

Cheers
Wendy

good point Wendy, i'v noticed that insides of drawers were unfinished too, lot's of drawers where also made of aromatic cedar inside...

With the nicer old furniture I've seen and owned, the rule seemed to be that if it was seen, finish it. If not, don't. The insides of armoires are usually finished the same as the outside, but if there is a drawer, the inside is not finished.

I've tended to stick with that rule, and have never had problems with furniture splitting or cracking. IMO, the splits and cracks I have seen come from not allowing for movement rather than finishing one side only.

Tex

I finish inside everything. Partly for the equalization issues, but mostly because I reckon the smell of lacquer is far better than the smell of mould, which is what you get when you're in the wet tropics.:wink:

Mick

Generally, not much furniture is finished on both sides. Take a chest of drawers for example...the inner frame would hardly ever see the light of day, and as ozwinner said, theres always the budget.
For me, I wax the runners and dividers of drawers, and wipe in orange oil on the insides of drawers.
On the other hand, a cabinet with glass panelling would be finished on both sides, because of the insides visibility...its case by case:)

Most old furniture that is finished on the inside was done by some well meaning hobiest or restorer who didn't know better or that it was never meant to be polished.

Not a lazy thing and not because its cheaper but in most instances it was done so the timber could draw moisture away from the items that were to housed in the item. For instance drawers, bookcase, blanket box etc, etc. Wardrobes usually had the inside of the doors finished but the rest left raw. Sometimes it was to allow the natural timber oils or gasses to stop moths silverfish etc from attacking paper or cloth stored in the item

There is usually a good reason that something was done. Although some well meaning restorers may think they know better, the actual fact is that in most instances they really don't. I have seen many valuable antiques devalued or ruined by well meaning but ignorant restorers.

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Originally Posted by ubeaut

There is usually a good reason that something was done. Although some well meaning restorers may think they know better, the actual fact is that in most instances they really don't. I have seen many valuable antiques devalued or ruined by well meaning but ignorant restorers.

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good call Neil...:2tsup:

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Whoo hoo! This will save some time!

I'll quiz you about it at the ww show this weekend, but when you mean unfinished, I'm assuming this means nothing - no shellac, wax or anything. I'm ok with the inside of drawers, but what about the underside of tables?

Cheers,

Tom

What a great point of debate and division.
Timely, also There was a "Damascus" reformation possible to Chris Schwartz, Editor of Popular Woodworking, only recently if you read this link:
http://blogs.popularwoodworking.com/...To+Finish.aspx

Ultimately, his change reflects the heading of the article, Stopwatch and Smell as I summarise it. If he used more tissues, it may be solely an economic rationalism. :D
Neil, I respect your views immensely (w/o intentionally wanting to be labelled as sycophant or crawler), BUT is there an element of self-perpetuation of a view? Were the early woodworkers even more aware of the extra time and effort and uncertaintity of benefit of staining interiors whereby they erred on the side of caution? Have we thereafter perepetuated their approach w/o fully considering why?:o
BTW, thanks for a good post to chalk up my 200 milestone!

Okay, I'll weigh in on this. Haven't a clue as what is truly the best method, but the ol' timers around the piney woods always said you didn't finish the insides or under side so the wood could breathe.

p.s. If I ever sound like I know what I'm doing I guess there's two fools here.

just because old timer did something does'nt meen it was the best way...

i seriously recommend sealing the underside of any panel, such as a tabletop, you don't want to see the results if you only varnish one side, it ain't pretty...