What to do with dresser interior?

[Brian Penning]

Don't think this is a finishing question per se but felt it was best here....

Making a large mission style dresser and was wondering how far to go in finishing the interior of the unit.
Would you apply the stain and varnish to all the web-frames, drawer supports etc?
Leave unfinished? Just apply the stain so everything inside and out is 1 color?
Thanks in advance for any and all replies

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[wayne Jepson]

Just finishes a similar dresser. I just used several coats if shellac on the inside. Dries fast and does not make everything inside the drawer smell.

[Jamie Buxton]

I wouldn't stain a part I expect to wear -- for instance whatever the drawers run on. Eventually the stain will wear off. A better scheme is to make the drawer ride on something that is never seen, so it doesn't matter what color it is.

That said, if your drawer fronts are going to be flush with the front of the casework, and if the casework is going to get stain, you should carry the staining inside the cabinet a little way, so you don't see natural wood color when you look into the crack between the drawers and the casework.

[Brian Penning]

Just finishes a similar dresser. I just used several coats if shellac on the inside. Dries fast and does not make everything inside the drawer smell.

I could see doing that if I wasn't staining the outside. I dunno, sort of bugs me I guess that if/when someone would remove the drawer they'd see stain runover into the interior. Good point about the smell though.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I dye/stain the adjacent surfaces only to the point that I am sure of a clean transition from the show surfaces. That means, for example that if someone were to lay on their back with a flashlight, they would see no dye/stain on the underneath of a table -except for the first couple inches - but then, they have way too much time on their hands.

However, IMO, the color is less important than the finish. I have always felt it was important to maintain a roughly equivalent barrier for moisture on all sides. "Roughly equivalent" means that if I have 4 coats of varnish on the show side, maybe 2 on the underneath. But, I virtually always have a shellac seal coat somewhere in the finish schedule, and that is the one that I think is the most important to balance.

[Lee Schierer]

I apply finish inside and out on almost every project. I try to put on at least 2 coats on the inside. However, I only stain the outside and areas that will show inside during normal use. Dresser frames don't get stained.

One thing you might want to consider on future projects is to put 1/4" plywood inside your frames. It keeps things in the drawers from migrating from drawer to drawer if a drawer is over stuffed. It also keeps things sticking up in drawers from preventing the drawer above from closing.

[Jerome Hanby]

I like shellac. Anywhere that doesn't have to be water/alcohol proof. If you don't have an HVLP, this would be a good excuse to grab that Earlex that's on sale at WC and other places...

[Kent A Bathurst]

I like shellac.........this would be a good excuse...

...to practice brushing on shellac. Kinda like teaching yourself drywall.....start with a closet where the clothes will always obscure the results.

[Peter Quinn]

Well, if the finish schedule is oil based or solvent based, I'd skip finishing the inside. If you can'd see it from the outside, don't bother. And if the finish is water based, i'd skip it. I finished a medicine cabinet with a water borne spray lacquer and it had that water borne stink for at least two months after I let it cure two weeks opened in the shop at normal room temperature. Chests and dressers will hold in finish stink for a very long time, and the contents of your piece will absorb that smell.

If the stain is a water based dye I don't figure it matters much though I wouldn't want it on wear parts, and it would have to be fully sealed with at least shellac to avoid any future transfer of color to the contents of your drawers. All in all there are a lot of good reasons to skip finishing the interior and not much good reason to do it unless its a frae and panel design, then I would prefinish the panels only before assembly.

[Jim Becker]

Any finish that will off-gas should not be used on the interior of a piece of furniture like this. If you feel you must put something on the wood, use Shellac as others have suggested or a water borne acrylic or solvent-based lacquer. (The latter only if you can safely work with it) Never use an oil-based product...it will off-gas nearly "forever" and that odor will get into clothing and other things you choose to store in the piece.

[Sam Hamory]

I would have sprayed shellac and sanded it before I finished reading all these responses.
In a production situation it probably wouldn't get any finish at all, past where you can see.
If it's a one off, custom piece, then take the time to do it right. Finish all surfaces.

[Brian Penning]

Thanks for all the replies -really appreciated.

[Brian Penning]

As I start doing the drawers I'm now wondering to what extent the drawer fronts are stained and finished.
They'll be half-blind dovetails so far around the outer drawer perimeter should the stain go?

[Kent A Bathurst]

I stain the fronts before assembly, but then, I am using different woods. Usually something dark-ish for the fronts [either dark-ish in the wild, or after dye and/or stain] and light on the sides/interior.

I like the contrast in colors - highlights the joinery - and with the difference in species, I'd guess the sides would not look all that good, because they wouldn't accept dye/stain the same.

Also - FWIW - I go to 400+ on the end grain only [burnishes it a bit] and then a couple seal coats of shellac. This inhibits dye/stain absorption, and leave the end grain with the same color/tone as the face.