Need some help guys.

[lrogers]

After a long time messing with wood, I've come up with a situation I haven't delt with before. The current project is just about to the finishing stage. It will be a LOT easier to stain IF it is stained as sub-assemblies. Now the question! Will I get a good glue joint on wood that has been stained, but has no poly on it? Head says it should since the glue can still be absorbed, but the head has been know to wrong.

So, can I go the easy way???? Oh, it might help if you knew what I was making. It's a little horse scooter for my granddaughter. Body to be stained red oak, ears, mane,tail natural canary wood.

[jackellis]

How about masking (painter's) tape over the surfaces that will receive glue to protect them from the stain? About the only drawback is that getting the tape off can also be a pain.

[dbhost]

Not sure. Do you have any small pieces of scrap that you can try your method on first?

[JR]

Head says it should since the glue can still be absorbed, but the head has been know to wrong.

My logic works like yours, Larry, but we're both wrong.

I've read a number of articles which say that stain will compromise the bonding properties of the glue. You should tape it as suggested by jackellis.

JR

[cabinetman]

Pre stained wood will affect a glue bond. As for taping off the area to be glued, the stain and/or glue can seep under the tape, and usually will. Joint areas to be stained and finished after gluing are much easier to clean up and prepare for finishing. It's just a habit I got into doing it that way. Too many problems trying to take short cuts.
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[BobSch]

How about masking (painter's) tape over the surfaces that will receive glue to protect them from the stain? About the only drawback is that getting the tape off can also be a pain.

Use blue painter's tape. The adhesive isn't much more aggressive than PostIt notes.

[lrogers]

Thanks guys! This is why it's good to ask. Masking it will be.

[drumpriest]

I've done pre-staining on some projects, it's a lot about your joinery, and how much error you can have. I prestained a bookcase that used dado's for the joinery. I masked off the shelves and dados, and it went fine. I had a little bleed through, but there is so much surface area anyway, I wasn't too worried about it.

I recently pre-lacquered my kitchen cabinets before assembly, using painters tape for the joint regions, and it went really well, actually the lacquer build up helped hold things into position when I went to do the assembly, like a very tiny trench. (pocket screw joinery)