Radiata Select Pine for Cabinet doors.

[Rich Johnson]

Im going to make some shaker style cabinets. Being the first ones that I have made I was going to make my first set for the garage. I was looking at inexpensive pine from the local Home Depot. They called it radiata select pine.

Anyway never used it on a router thought If i glued two pieces together and made the pannels. And used the 2 1/2 inch for the outer parts if it would work. Dosnt have to look prety just give me some practice and be used in my garage.

On a second question what is a good finish for pine....

Thnks

[Dan Friedrichs]

The pine at HD is awfully expensive for being....pine. $3-4 per bdft. I can buy cherry for that price!

Can you find a local lumber yard? Here in Colorado, I can get pine for <$1/bdft.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Unless you really like pine, I would use a hardwood such as oak or poplar. You should be able to purchase many hardwoods from a hardwood distributor for less then the pine at a big box store.

Pine can take it's toll on cutting tools becuase of all of the sap. If you do use it make sure you clean blades often to prevent pitch build up which can dull your blades and cause burning.

Good luck with your endevour and keep us posted.

-Andrew

[Neal Clayton]

i agree with Dan, this thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1438042&postcount=6) sums up my reasoning why. i use salvaged old growth pine primarily, for doors and floors and moldings and such. i've gone through about 4-5 thousand feet of it over the past few years.

not only is 'home depot pine' overpriced, it's not really of a quality that i would demand in any sort of door or window, which would include cabinet doors. i admit i have used it for panels, when in a pinch for a width i didn't have in the shop and needing panels done yesterday, but i wouldn't use it for the structure of the door.

i also pay around 1 dollar a foot for trees younger than 200 years old (i.e., they don't have a significant amount of heartwood yet).

if you like the wood, that's fine, i do that's why i use it ;). but as stated in the above thread, imo 'home depot pine' is for shims and jigs. if you want yellow pine good enough for cabinets, check with your local lumberyards about acquiring salvaged old growth pine. you can probably get it with smooth knots and nail holes for shop cabinets at about the same price as the home depot stuff. and it will be infinitely better than what you get at home depot for 4 dollars a foot.

[William Duffer]

I have built all kids of furniture out of the Radiata. This is before I had a plainer and joiner. It all has held up just fine, I used the minwax stain and Poly on it. It is well over priced but if you don't have the tools for rough or S2S then it is a descent alternative.


Bill

[Van Huskey]

One cheap alternatie for practice/shop cabinets is SYP. Sift through the 2 X 10s find some with nice grain, take them home and resaw them and bookmatch the panels. Cheap and can be quite nice.

[Larry Edgerton]

Word of caution:

Do not use Radenta outside. It will rot so fast you will wonder what happened. I am talking about in a couple of years in a protected area such as window trim under a nice size overhang. Have seen it several times in this Northern Michigan climate.