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Protecting Finishes the Easy Way

Here's a cheap and easy way to protect the high gloss or any other type of finish on a CBG box - build. Wrap it in Saran Wrap. That's right! It sticks like glue and it keeps the finish from being dinged, marred or scratched up while working on the box and fitting parts, and...it cuts like butter with a single edged razor blade or exacto knife, and it's a hell of alot cheaper than the blue painter's tape sold at most home department stores...You can add as many layers as you wish.

I wrap my boxes completely around, then cut the opening for the lid along the edge where it meets the box body with an exacto knife so I can open and close it easily. The box stays as nice as when I started it, and I can see the box through the clear saran wrap coating. I even wrap them tighter than necessary, and tightly wrapped boxes using Saran wrap are as good as clamps when glueing.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by L.J. on February 9, 2009 at 1:54am

When marking for neck holes do you use a marker? Whats the process on marking and cutting? I love the Idea. I hate slipping and messin up my top.
A tip from me. "When you scratch part of your top past the point of fixin.Scratch the rest to match and u get that really nice distressed look" Im sure thats no secret but I have had to put that theory to use before. AKA my Romeo and Juliet distressed.

Permalink Reply by John Sims on February 9, 2009 at 3:11am

I use a very sharp pencil on non-finished boxes. On finished boxes, I use a small Sharpie pen, the one with the very fine tip. The ink comes off easily with denatured alcohol or other solvent. There are many methods to mark the holes and cuts. Some CBG builders even use masking or painter's tape to tape off an area and then subsequently cut inside of the tape edges. As far as scratches, I don't scratch up the rest of the box to match, I cover the scratch with a similar or exact color of satin if available, or even a colored grease type pencil used for furniture to hide marks and scratches.

As far as the process, measure three or four times, and cut once! Take your time and use the actual part if possible to mark the area to be cut out, or use a template, such as this type. When marking an area to be cut, cut inside the line(s) made by the marker taking the saw blade thickness into account. I make all of my holes and cuts smaller than the required hole or cut, then file or sand them to the proper size. It makes for a better finish, a tighter fit and easier to fix if there are small gaps in the joints that can be seen.

Permalink Reply by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker on February 13, 2009 at 3:41am