George Vondriska

Advantages to Finishing a Woodworking Project Before Assembly

George Vondriska
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Duration:   2  mins

If you’re anything like George, you don’t like stressing over the minute details of a project after you think you’re already done. So George Vondriska teaches you the advantages to finishing a woodworking project before assembly. By applying finish to a piece with tight corners and small spaces prior to final assembly, you can avoid having to do any cleanup work on the spots you want to leave bare.

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5 Responses to “Advantages to Finishing a Woodworking Project Before Assembly”

  1. Jay

    Another good reason to stain first is that any glue squeeze-out that occurs during assembly can interfere with your staining. For some projects, it can be advantageous to almost completely stain and finish the pieces prior to gluing/assembly, while protecting the future, glued, contact surfaces with blue tape, stuffing pieces of paper towel in other areas, such as leg holes, as needed. Where assembly involves many pieces that fit together, that will need to be moved around a bit for a good, combined fit, consider using hyde glue, which has a very long set-up time, unlike the PVA glues, and easily washes off with a damp sponge even after it is dry.

  2. Bob Fischer

    Do you tape slightly past the line to make sure you have no gaps in the finish? Getting the tape perfectly alined on butt joints (with dominos) seems like it would be hard.

  3. Jack

    George, watched your video in finishes but still not sure about my situation. what finish would you recomment for small unfinished / natural wood toys? Trains, planes, etc. Needs to be safe, something to give some luster to wood grains, protects wood better, add definition to assortment of woods. and easy as possible to do in small shop. PaPa Jack

  4. Michael

    Understood that you need to mask glue joints to prevent topcoat from impacting adhesion. Is it necessary (or advisable) to mask for oil or water based stains as well? How about for sanding sealer?

  5. AHMED

    what is the best wood insulation materiel in very hot dry weather up to 55 degree ? this is outdoor sets nearest the fountain and garden ( some of water come into it )

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