Finishing Technique Seen On Festool Video - Why Does He Do It That Way?

I'm interested in the finishing technique seen in this video at exactly 2:00.

formatting link

AFAICT he is protecting the panel as he applies stain to the inside edge of the stile, presumably to prevent getting any more stain on the panel.

I assume he stained the panel first so there is a bit of stained panel inside the groove of the rails and stiles, so why didn't he stain the rails and stiles before inserting the panels?

I'll be doing something similar this weekend and I was planning to stain the uprights of this headboard before attaching them to the panel so I don't have to be deal with the inside edges of the uprights once they are attached.

formatting link

Am I missing something?

Reply to
DerbyDad03
Loading thread data ...

...

All I can say is oversight--"oops!" If finishing first need to tape or otherwise protect glue surfaces, but no reason not to finish all the edges/surfaces needing finished.

Mayhaps this guy wanted to not get any inside the panel grooves, but I'd not worry over that or if decided didn't want it, use a dummy piece of ply/panel to fill the gap then.

IOW, I think there is no good reason to have to do what he's doing there.

$0.02, and I'm stickin' to it! :)

Reply to
dpb

What he's doing in that video seems pretty quick and easy. I think he can do that faster than he could use a scrap of ply to fill the gap to do it before assembly. That might explain it. If he's done bunch of those, he's determined it faster and easier to do it that way.

Personally, I'd be more concerned with the terrible stain matching/blotching. :-)

Reply to
-MIKE-

He did not stain the inside edges of the "stiles" and rails because he did not want the finish to block the glue surface at the joints.

I always tape off the section where the glue will adhere and stain and varnish the insides edges first. My experience is that a "little" bit of finish in the joint is OK but you want most of the joint to be bare wood against bare wood for the best adhesion.

formatting link

Reply to
Leon

I guess my question in his situation would be, "what glue?" For an inset panel door, the panel is supposed to move freely, correct. Even when making a table with breadboard ends, you're not supposed to glue and if you do, you only glue a small section.

So whatever that guy built, it's a solid wood panel & frame construction, meaning there shouldn't be any glue in that joint anyway. Isn't that correct or am I missing something?

Reply to
-MIKE-

Well, actually, my headboard staining won't match because the wood starts out as different colors and my daughter wants to keep it that way.

In fact, on the outside edges of the headboard, every other board is cut short and a piece of "side grain" wood is inserted. These alternating pieces will take the stain differently and "not match". I did this on the bunk beds I built for the boys many years ago and my (now adult) daughter wants the same look.

Thanks for the opinion on the finishing technique. I'll be doing mine separately as planned.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

If you watch the whole video, you'll see that he is building "barn doors".

Probably for one of Leon's high end clients. :-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Even so, those panels shouldn't be glued solid, agreed.

Referring to the other comment here rather than two postings, I personally wouldn't bother to make the insert as noted but even if did if has done a number of 'em, how long overall does it take to slice a 3" wide piece of 1/4" or whatever the groove is ply off a sheet and have it?

I just don't see not finishing the edges at the same time as the rest of the piece, whether you finish individual pieces first or the whole thing at the end (which is asking for a gap line to show when the panel shrinks so that's not really a good option).

Reply to
dpb

Reply to
Swingman

The glue at holds the rails and stiles together.

No glue in that joint, the glue would be in the rail and stile joint.

Reply to
Leon

Every one look at the video at 2:00 minutes again. The joint that receives glue is the one between the mid rail and the stile that he is staining. You want glue at that joint, not the panel. You do not want stain where the rail and stile are glued together.

Reply to
Leon

Correct, but in that case you would do what you did and put masking tape over those sections. I don't see either technique taking any more time than the other, except that if you're already set up for staining you may as well tape the frame joints and do it all at once.

Reply to
-MIKE-

On the video I'm watching he is staining the inside edge of the stile, in between a top/bottom rail and the intermediate rail, and on what appears to be door frame that is already assembled and glued.

So, his operation does not appear to be necessary IMO, but I might be missing something in the original question?

That said, there could be one other explanation for doing that ... the use of rubber/plastic barrels/spacers in the grooves to keep the panels centered.

Rubber/plastic spacers may not last very long when coated with an oil based stain that will get into the grooves during application?

Reply to
Swingman

Or, instead of keeping the fresh stain out of the grooves, he is trying to keep it away from already dried stain on the panels.

We all know how easy it is to lighten, or darken, an already dried area with fresh stain when trying to just do a spot/partial area.

Reply to
Swingman

On 09/30/2016 4:29 PM, Swingman wrote: ...

Think we're all agreed on that; question is "why would you need to if had just stained the edges with the rest of the stile?"

Seems like an unneeded step to me, fer shure...plus, unless there was something unique about this one particular piece, he's got eight of those to do for every panel--that'll begin to add up even if not so much for the one...

Reply to
dpb

No, you did not miss anything in my question. The technique for keeping the stain off of the panel caught my eye as something that I might use until it dawned on me that I couldn't figure out why he was even doing it.

Then why not block the groove with a spare "panel" as a means to reduce the risk of getting *any* stain on the real panel?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

That sounds like you are assuming he stained the face of the stile before assembly. I was assuming, based on the fact that he was staining the edge after assembly, that he stained the face after assembly, then moved on to the edge.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Yes, either he has not figured out taping or he forgot. Staining after the fact as he is going will almost always result with dark stained corners and the corners are tough to get to.

Reply to
Leon

Two reasons for staining the edge after assembly.

  1. He forgot to stain before assembly.
  2. He has not yet figured out to tape the joint intersections and pre stain before assembly.
Reply to
Leon

Well, it is a Festool video, right from their website.

Maybe he ran out of green tape.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.