That is good to do a rough assembly of everything to check you have the tube length right for the desired focus range. You can use some pillows or cushions to aim the tube at the moon (or some distant terrestial object) if you don't have a useable mount yet.
Here is a link to refractor basics;
http://www.irpoyser.co.uk/makingtelescopes.php
Here is a link to the minimum baffle method;
http://www.berfield.com/baffles.html
If your tube diameter is not much bigger than the clear aperture it may be best to forget about baffles and just flock the inside of the tube with black velvet or similar method. Tele Vue make their refractors without baffles and it has the advantage of making the scope more compact for a given aperture.
About refractive objectives;
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=407
Useful magnification ranges for visual observing;
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=547
Simple telescope testing;
http://www.cloudynights.com/documents/aberrations.pdf
