Painting stiles and rails after glue up

[ReneS]

I have been finishing the panels for my five piece doors before gluing up the doors. The doors are flat panel, shaker style.

When the rails and stiles have a different finish than the panel, I have been masking the panel. That is a bit tedious and fussy.

Is there a better way, such as clamping the rails and stiles in position and painting the inside edges that butt up against the panels? I'm kind of doubting it but thought I would ask.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Packard]

I am trying to picture in my mind what the contrasting rails and stiles would look like on a finished door. I’m sure I have not seen it done.

In any case, I think I would paint the panel first prior to assembly. Apply a sheet of frisket paper to the panel, and then assemble and paint the door with the frame color.

After the paint is dried peel off the frisket paper to reveal the painted surface. The difficulty will be removing the frisket paper where it is into the groove in the rails and stiles.

The video shows using frisket film/paper for pastels, but it is adaptable for air bushing, hand painting and spray painting.

 

[ReneS]

Thanks, Packard.

Here is a picture of the two tone construction I was talking about. This time, however, the panels will have clear finish and the frame will be painted. The panel is maple ply and the frame is some pine I scavenged from and old log.

And here is also a picture of my new approach. I'm going to just paint the edge that will butt up against the panel. After glue up, I am going to sand and paint the rest of it.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Packard]

When I am painting cabinet doors, I paint the perimeter of the center panel prior to assembly to avoid visible unpainted areas due to seasonal movement.

That is why I suggested painting the center panel prior to painting and masking.

In any case, the contrast of paint to wood grain looks way better than the two-color imiage in my mind.

 

[waho6o9]

Maybe tape off the glue joints and apply your finish first. Hopefully, all that remains is a little touch up...
l hear ya on that tedious part.......

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I have done adifferent finish on the panel too. It works just fine. The main thing I have found is the joinery matters.
Depending on how you do it, changes the strategy. If you do integral tenons, they need masked. I usually do stub tenons and though grooves, supplemented with Dominos. That stops the need for masking. The glue you use matters too. Melamine glue will still stick with some overspray, plus it cleans up well.

 

[tjbnwi]

No easy way or trick to two tone doors. Patience is your friend. Back in the day I taped off many cars to spray all kinds of patterns so these are a no brainer.

We got this project because no other shop would do the two tone for them.

Tom

 

[ReneS]

By clamping the stiles and rails, I was able to square them up and get the rails in their proper positions. I used a foam brush to paint the inside edges. After I do the glue up, I will sand and finish painting the stiles and rails. That should go very quickly. I think if I am careful, I won't need to mask the panels at all. I will be using a foam brush and a high density foam roller to complete the paint job and will be avoiding the edges. If I don't load up the paint, I think the edges will stay clean and sharp.

I understand that this wouldn't work if I was going to spray, and you professionals probably spray your cabinets. This definitely feels less onerous than taping the panels and then painting. And the foam roller gives me a very acceptable finish as a hobbiest. It's true that this requires two extra rounds of drying time (since the inside edges are painted at a different time than the faces and outside edges), but that is time during which I can be doing other work or goofing off.

I appreciate the responses.

 

[tjbnwi]

We spray everything, we have to tape off.

Tom

 

[Packard]

By clamping the stiles and rails, I was able to square them up and get the rails in their proper positions. I used a foam brush to paint the inside edges. After I do the glue up, I will sand and finish painting the stiles and rails. That should go very quickly. I think if I am careful, I won't need to mask the panels at all. I will be using a foam brush and a high density foam roller to complete the paint job and will be avoiding the edges. If I don't load up the paint, I think the edges will stay clean and sharp.

I understand that this wouldn't work if I was going to spray, and you professionals probably spray your cabinets. This definitely feels less onerous than taping the panels and then painting. And the foam roller gives me a very acceptable finish as a hobbiest. It's true that this requires two extra rounds of drying time (since the inside edges are painted at a different time than the faces and outside edges), but that is time during which I can be doing other work or goofing off.

I appreciate the responses.

I found that using a very slow drying paint, that gravity will help level the finish. For that reason, I use Advance. But note that the white and the light colors dry to a significantly harder surface. Black, which I used on my cabinets, is satisfactory, but noticeably softer than the white and light colors.

Advance is made by Benjamin Moore.

Also note that Advance requires about 12 hours between coats—so the process is slower than other paints.

I have also used General Finishes “Milk Paint” which is a modern acrylic exterior finish made to resemble milk paint. It is a very matte finish, and it scuffs easily, but it applies well with a foam brush levels perfectly for a sprayed-look finish. With a gloss clear top coat it is suitable for cabinet work. You can use semi-gloss clear as a top coat over light colors, but over dark colors, it makes the color muddy. Over black, it makes it look gray.