On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 06:39:16 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

In article ,
says...

I made a set of bifold closet doors to replace louvered ones. My wife does not
like to trying to get the dust out of the slats and wanted something solid with a smooth surface. I stained the plywood panels , stiles, and rails before glue up. My thoughts were the stain ( brushed, not sprayed) would try to accumulate at the junction of panels and frame if I waited until after assembly. Show of hands..how many would stain after assembly? They turned out fine...just wondering.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who participate. All others, enjoy your Thursday.

Stain first. Wood moves. If you stain after and the frame expands
more than the panels you get visible unstained areas.
Another reason is stain doesn'r stick well to glue (actually can't
penetrate glue to stain the wood), and glue doesn't stick well to
stain, so if you get any glue squease out on unstained wood, no matter
how quickly you wipe it off, the stain won't take as well there -
leaving a "scar" - and if you stain first and get squease out, the
glue comes of more easily as it can't get into the grain as well.