Cherry Dresser Finishing Questions

[Ken Johnsen]

I'm about half way through building the 6 drawere cherry dresser form plansnow.com.

Solid cherry panel in frame ends with solid cherry front & rear bottom stretchers. A plywood carcass with drawer supports is then screwed into the end panels and strechers. The cherry top then screws into the carcass.

I'm planning to finish with oil/varnish/mineral spirits to match the bed I made last year.

My questions are;

1 Do I finish the cherry before attaching the carcas so I can protect both sides of the cherry from moisture and uneven movement or just finish the outside after it's all together? Seems to me that I should finish all sides of the cherry.

1. do I finish the inside and outside of the maple playwood carcas and draw supports or leave them unfinished? Looking at some commercial dressers I've seen unfinished wood on the inside.

Thanks for any advice

Ken

[Bob]

Ken,

I would finish the inside first, but use shellac on the inside. Oil can leave a smell inside that takes quite a while to go away. I know this from experience on a cherry cabinet I made 5 years ago. You should tape off the edge between the shellac and oil because if the shellac overlaps outside it may keep the oil from penetrating properly.

I don't have an opinion on the plywood carcass. I would probably use a light shellac finish inside, but it probably doesn't matter.

Bob