Shellac (wax) and glue

[Benjamin Brisjar]

I plan on putting several coats of shellac on drawer boxes I am making for the kitchen cabinets. The boxes have the basic through dovetail joints at all four corners, a dado groove about 3/16" from the bottom to hold the drawer bottoms.

The shellac I'm using is Zinser Bullseye Shellac (3 lb cut, contains wax). I'm using Titebond II Premium glue for the corner joints.

I want to put shellac on all surfaces of the drawer boxes (except on the faces of the dovetail joints (so the glue will hold), including the inside surfaces of the dado groove.

My question is this: In what order should I complete assembly and finish of the drawer boxes?

1. Shellac bottoms and dado groove, dry assemble, shellac, glue, shellac?

2. Dry assemble, shellac, glue, shellac?

3. Glue, shellac?

I'm pretty new to woodworking and I can't quite figure out how to finish these boxes. I already have the shellac and the glue. And, I would like to use what I have instead of buying more/different stuff.

Thanks.

-Benj

[Steve Schoene]

Glue and then shellac is my preference. The reason is that it is almost inevitable that you may have to trim a little on pins or tails after assembly. Besides dovetails only fit really well once.

No earthly reason that I can see to put shellac on the inside of the dado groove. (Or for that matter on the bottom of the drawer bottom--it's captured--it can't warp.)

I would also shift to dewaxed shellac. That allows putting a waterborne finish over it in the future should you decide that were needed. It's also a bit more water resistant than the shellac with wax. You may also find that a 2 lb. cut is easier to work with. If you use the Zinsser shellac with wax, make sure that you use the Amber, not the Clear. The bleaching process that creates the clear also reduces the durability and water resistance of the finish, compared to the Amber. By the way, if you bought the shellac you have more than a couple of months ago, you probably want to use fresh. Lots of people are of the opinion that the "use by" date is quite a bit optimistic for the best results.

[Howard Acheson]

Shellac is not a good choice for kitchen cabints. It's OK for interiors but it will not stand up well for exterior surfaces. Cooking greases will deteriorate the shellac and normal kitchen cleaning chemicals will damage the finish.

If it were me, I would assemble the boxes and then apply the finish. Finishing drawers with shellac is not a big deal.

[Benjamin Brisjar]

I guess I had the wrong idea about waxed and de-waxed shellac. I thought that the waxed shellac would be more water resistant. The whole purpose of shellac-ing was to put some type of protective coating on the kitchen drawers.

My idea about shellacing the groove and the bottom of the bottom also was along the lines of a protective coating. If something spills into the drawers, do I really need to worry about any damage from liquid getting into the groove?

Thanks for your help.

BTW, I was only planning on shellacing the drawers. The outer parts of the cabinets themselves are finished with Minwax oil-based stain and Minwax Wipe-On Poly

[Jim Becker]

Glue, sand/scrape/plane, shellac.

[Jerry Olexa]

Glue, assemble, shellac last...wax in shellac is a natural ingredient.