Southeast Michigan Woodworkers

I'm building slide-out units for our kitchen pantry. The adjustable shelves are actually very shallow trays made of 1/4" melamine-faced MDF mounted in a frame of 3/8" x 1" maple.

Obviously appearance isn't a big deal in finishing the frames. I just want something to seal the wood and be tolerant of an occasional wipe-down with a damp sponge.

My first thought for this kind of thing is a couple of coats of BLO, but maybe shellac or a combination of the two would be preferable.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Steve,

Don't put a "smelly" finish like BLO inside. I would recommend a coat of shellac (Sealcoat would be good!). That smell will go very quickly - the BLO might be around for months!

Shellac or a WB finish would be my choice.

I've got some Sealcoat - that's what I had in mind. Wasn't too sure how shellac stands up to a little moisture though. I've never used a water borne finish. Maybe this'd be a chance to experiment a bit with either GF Polycrylic or Rockler's WunderCote.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll steer away from the BLO on this one!!

I used seal coat inside drawers on our bathroom vanity. I know I reach into my drawer with wet hands fairly regularly and I don't see any problems. And I actually look at this the other day since its been about 2 years and was wondering.

If you go WB, I'd give Minwax Polycrylic a shot. That's what I've used on all the bathroom cabinetry I've done and its held up great so far. And you can buy it anywhere. Heck, I think Meijer sells it.

Steve

I have used waterborne poly for many drawers.
It gives a good seal and finish, and is easy to apply.
It will make a world of difference if you apply 3 coats.
1 coat seals, 2nd coat builds and 3rd coat gives smooth
surface. Lightly sanding between coats.
It also doesn't have a long lasting smell, which can
be an issue in a pantry.

John

2 or 3 thin coats of MW wipe on poly.

I picked up some Polycrylic over the weekend, but got to wondering - being water-based, how much will grain-raising be an issue?

This has to be finished after assembly, and as you'll understand when I post pictures, sanding will be a royal pain inna butt, especially on the inside surfaces, so I'd like to minimize that if at all possible.

It could be that I just have to bite the bullet an put up with it, since I'll probably have to sand between coats anyway, but thought I'd ask if there is anything I can do to minimize the need - like maybe a thinned coat of shellac (SealCoat) before the Polycrylic.

Thanks.

It is going to raise the grain. If you want a clear finish, bite the bullet and sand it after the first coat. Or use the Sealcoat to seal it. I've done it both ways. It does sand out pretty easily.

Steve

As Matt indicated, a light sanding will handle the grain.
Not an issue on second, third coat. There the sanding will
handle any dust nibs or other roughies.

Good luck
John

Steve, I've been using Polycrylic on a repeat project that involved first staining with WB stain, then spraying with Polycrylic. I was fighting grain raising after each step. This was particularly anoying as the raised grain that got sanded off would leave unstained wood fibers exposed.
I experimented with home-brewed stain using shellac as a base, this pretty much eliminated grain raising when I applied the Polycrylic.

Long story short, I played with shellac cuts from 1/2# to 1-1/2#, I found something around a 1# cut worked best for me, the 1/2# cut dried too fast which made application difficult. I tried brushing and padding, both worked fine.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice, gents.

Sounds like I should just go ahead with the Polycrylic and resign myself to the sanding, since I'm probably not going to avoid sanding at least one coat anyway - KISS - and at least I know what to expect.

Thanks again.

Steve, you do realize that you can eliminate alot of the work by raising the grain and sanding PRIOR to assembly by wetting the work and letting dry, sand and repeating with a higher grit of paper...

Steve, You're still going to need to sand between coats anyway to smooth the surface and for adhesion for the next coat. I prefinish the inside of drawers, assemble, then finish the outside, makes it easier sanding and finishing.

For the grain rasing you might want try Dave Zaret's technique of using seal-a-cell first then a wipe down with DNA, then the finish. I tried it and it worked pretty well, no grain raise. I used Target Coatings EM6000 and not Minwax. Not sure if it would make a difference.


This sounds like you are either sanding with to course of sandpaper or sanding to hard or maybe the finish is to thin. It should only take one light pass to knock down the grain and once you put the next coat on it should be locked in and not raise the grain anymore.