Tried pre-finishing drawer boxes before assembly - total disaster

Thought I'd save time by spraying poly on all my drawer box parts before gluing them up. Figured it would seal the inside and speed things along. Problem was the glue couldn't get a good grip on the finished surfaces. I had 12 drawer boxes start coming apart at the joints after 3 days. Had to rebuild every single one from scratch. Anyone else run into this issue with pre-finished parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

markhall16d agoTop Commenter

Figured it would seal the inside and speed things along" - sounds like it sealed the inside and speeded things apart instead. Live and learn, I guess.

danielhenderson16d ago

@markhall nah, probably just overthinking it.

kelly.nora14d ago

@danielhenderson's probably right about overthinking it, but did you scuff the finish before you glued? I've gotten away with pre-finishing smaller stuff by hitting the glue surfaces with 120 grit after the poly cured. Just enough to break the seal where the joint meets. Sucks you had to scrap 12 boxes though - that's a full day's work down the drain.