To finish or not to finish??

[Skip C]

I am finally applying finish to a small cherry Shaker end table with a drawer that I built 2 years ago but haven't had the time to spend on applying the finish until this week.

My question is do I apply any type of finish to the outsides of the drawer or to the bottom of the runners and the boards that the runners slid on? I think that I read that these parts should not be finished but I cannot find any articles taht address this. I have finished the inside of the drawer with shellac but have not applied any finish to the outside of the drawer.

Thanks for the help!

Skip

[Skip C]

After spending the last 2 days reviewing every article I could find on finsih and how to apply it, I decided (after I wrote the above question) to look at articles on building tables with drawers hoping that my question would be addressed. I just found the answer on the very last line of a FWW article (2/2010 #210) by Christian Becksvoort. He states "I use only wax on the drawer runners, spacers, kickers and drawer sides and bottom, to help them run more smoothly".

Anyone have success doing it differently?

Thanks, Skip

[SARGE..g-47]

Depending on how the show components of a piece and the type of piece I sometims shellac the outside of drawers before waxing.. sometimes not so it works both ways. I can think of no reason to go further on slides.. etc. than simply wax. Works fine and I doubt anyone will be sticking their head inside a chest to find out if you finished the runners as doing so just isn't necessary IMO...

Good luck and keep it simple..

[cabinetman]

I finish drawers completely using waterbase polyurethane. For drawers with wood runners, I use no finish or wax on the wood to wood contact areas. Two main reasons. Using wax would be a maintenance item to be applied when necessary. Some waxed surfaces may be too slick. Properly prepared offers some slight resistance.

I sand those surfaces to a high grit - 600x, which provides a very smooth travel, which only improves with use.
.

[natausch]

100% Pure Tung Oil then wax. The oil helps reduce swelling and shrinking and provides a nice base for the wax to lay on.