Drawer Innards

I'm making some drawers out finger-jointed 3/4 pine (with birch ply bottoms). The face will be polyurethaned to match the rest of the entertainment center, but if I were to poly the drawer innards, it would add two days to my project. Since the drawer innards aren't too visible, but ought to be able to be cleaned up if the kids grab a video with dirty fingers, or if the one year old pukes in it or something, I want to finish it with something that goes on quickly and easily (post-assembly, preferably).

Can you recommend something quick and easy for the inside (I think poly is 8 hrs between coats, or something, and for pine, I need at least 2 coats). I have only used poly before (except for the Penofin on the hammock stand), so I don't have any experience with other finishes. If the suggested alternative can be bought at the Borg, that would be great.

Also, the plywood I got for the bottom might be too thin. What's the thickness you'd recommend for a 20x30 drawer?

Lastly, what are furniture drawers innards usually finished with? I seem to recollect that they seem to be unfinished... at least they don't have film finishes IIRC. (I'm at work now, and there's no wood furniture to look at.)

Thanks! Jamie

Reply to
Jamie Jackson
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I don't finish my drawer interiors, but I don't have a one year old.

Water based poly dries pretty fast. Looks lousy, but dries fast.

Reply to
John

Jamie Jackson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

[Full choir, in unison] Shellac! If you buy it at the BORG, get a quart, as well as a couple of quarts of denatured alcohol (sometimes marked SLX there). Get some latex or nitrile gloves, a couple of old lint free cotton rags (old tshirts or cloth diapers work well here). Mix 1 part canned shellac to 2 parts denatured alcohol in a jar, and then wipe it on the drawer parts that don't show on the outside. Dries in about 15 minutes, most days. Do it again 4 or 5 times. Sand it lightly with 320 grit or higher of you must, to level the surface or clean up drips, but you don't really NEED to. If you sand, wipe another coat on, then leave it alone.

Quick. Easy. Cheap. Throw the rag away when it dries out. Put a lid on the jar, and use it again another time. Maybe rub some paste wax on it. Heck, you might even want to do the outside this way, too!

The other thing is, shellac doesn't smell like (oil-based) poly can, when closed up in a drawer.

There are buried treasures in Google's wReck archives. Search on shellac + Paddy + wiping instructions. The wisdom of the ages remains available to all who search.

Water-based poly dries quickly, too, (couple of hours) but isn't QUITE as easy to get right, for a new user, with minimal tools. My neighbor sprays his, and it looks pretty good,

3/8". Smaller drawers, 1/4" Finn birch. But what do I know? For some stuff, 1/2" might not be too much. A lot depends on construction types, intended use, and whether you expect your kiddies to use the drawers for adventure games, etc.

Either leave them natural, or use some of that shellac you just put away. Anything oil-based is likely to leave an odor.

But seriously, do that Google search. Paddy tells the story so much better. So did Paully Rad...

Patriarch, still learning the craft, one project at a time...

Reply to
patriarch

You can use a spit coat of shellac to finish the drawer interior. Or you could use a spray lacquer for a super fast dry. Many drawers are left unfinished. Drawers are typically made of 1/2" sides and back,

3/4" fronts, and 1/4" bottoms. Thicker materials will make a drawer feel heavy (although I have used thicker material for shop drawers to hold power tools.) A large drawer of 20x30 should have a divider or muntin to provide strength to the bottom.
Reply to
Phisherman

Yessir! I'll take the bass unison an octave down, someone else can grab the

3rd and 5th above ... Shellac!

Pretty hard to beat if you need to finish drawer insides.

Reply to
Swingman

If you must finish the inside of the drawer the for a quick dry and easy to apply use a flat water-based poly spray. If the piece is real important then shellac is in order. (1 part shellac to 2-3 parts denatured alcohol) Wipe on, let dry, repeat twice or until satisfied.

Dave

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Reply to
TeamCasa

I'm sold. Good excuse to try shellac, too.

Thanks!! Jamie

Reply to
Jamie Jackson

Shellac.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y

For an entertainment center, where smell is already poly, use a thinned poly. It'll give you some extra dirt rejection capability and still go on easily.

I wouldn't recommend an unsupported 20x30 drawer bottom, unless you're going to limit the interior weight to next to nothing. Note that interior dividers can help keep the ply from bowing and disengaging. I've been using that birch-faced 5-ply stuff lately. Nominal 1/4" and sandable to almost any standard.

Reply to
George

Reply to
nospambob

For most drawers I build, and all that are to contain clothes, I just wipe on a coat or 2 of shellac. About a 1 or 1 1/2 lb cut can be wiped on with a rag and dries in 20 minutes or less.

I learned the hard way, don't use an oil finish inside a drawer that will contain clothes.

Reply to
Lawrence Wasserman

Reply to
nospambob

I already bought the Zinsser shellac (not seal coat). Since I don't plan to top it off with anything but a few more coats of shellac, I should be alright.

Good to know about the other stuff in the future, though.

Thanks, Jamie

Reply to
Jamie Jackson

Shellac, as others have noted, is common.

There are also quick-drying polyurethanes. For example, ZAR makes a good oil-based poly, with a 2-hour recoat time.

Reply to
Robert Bonomi

Or if you do, wipe a coat of shellac on over it! :)

Reply to
brad

I've done that. The clothes burn when you bar-b-que.

==

There are 10 kinds of people in the world those who understand binary and those who don't.

Reply to
Len

It sure is! I use it often for smaller parts where I'm too lazy to dirty spray gear with Seal Coat or hand mixed shellac sealers.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y

The local borg has shellac made by Zinsser. Also, Deft makes a brush-on lacquer. However, it takes a few days with the drawers open for the smell to diminish. I vote for the shellac.

Preston

Reply to
Preston Andreas

Not so fast. Nothing beats lacquer for fast easy application and great results.

Reply to
Mike

jim snipped-for-privacy@mindless.com (Mike) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

[There's always one guy wants to sing a different tune...]

Well, OK. As long as I have the right spray equipment, the proper respirator, and some training. And some practice. Oh, and a calm day, or a place to put up a booth...

The OP, IIRC, was more in the brushing/wiping, doing this at home, learning as I go phase. Rattle can DEFT could be just the thing for drawer innards. Brushing the stuff, when I did an entertainment center 6 months ago, was one of the less enjoyable finishing experiences I've had recently.

But in the hands of an experienced, well-equipped spray tech, lacquer works just fine.

Patriarch, who believes that shellac is just too easy to ignore, for the the right applications...

Reply to
patriarch

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