Shop cabinets, workbench, etc. Plywood vs MDF vs ???

[Tom Hoppe]

I'm going to be building a whole set of base cabinets, french cleat tool storage, as well as a couple of "flip top" carts, and finally, a big workbench on casters, to house my SawStop JSS. My garage isn't 100% woodworking, as it's also a mountain bike shop, so I like to have those carts (planer, tabletop jointer, sander, router table) and my workbench/saw on casters, so I can reconfigure/move stuff around. I will not be hanging any of these cabinets, everything is either base cabinets on the ground, the stuff on casters, or french cleat tool storage for things like drills, hand tools, etc

Currently "proper" BB plywood is just too damn expensive, as 5x5 sheets of it are $140+ in my area, even the "B" stuff, that just has a good core.

Having said all that, what material would you choose to build all this with? I'd like to use the same material for all the things.

a) 3/4" Maple plywood from Lowes. $90 a sheet. Looks pretty good, thin veneer, but it's shop furniture, so who cares.

b) 3/4" MDF. $60 a sheet. I've seen some Mike Farrington videos of MDF shop furniture, which has me possibly thinking this. He uses 50/50 Poly/Paint thinner as the finish which seems to really harden the surface. And if it's good enough for Mike Farrington, it's good enough for me.

c) Is there something better than I'm missing? I'm in Golden, CO, so my supply for all things wood is Austin Hardwoods in Denver

Thanks!

[Ron Selzer]

From Lowes.com
3/4-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Whitewood Sanded Plywood


Item #520360
Model #520360

or cheaper


Plytanium 23/32-in x 4-ft x 8-ft Bcx Southern Yellow Pine Sanded Plywood


Item #12229

[Tom Hoppe]

Not available anywhere at Lowes here in CO. Any other "big box store" plywood I've seen is just total garbage :(

[Jamie Buxton]

For your uses, you're going to want to be screwing panels together at the furniture corners. MDF doesn't hold screws well. I'd be using plywood. Look for flat (well, okay flat-ish) panels. They're easier to work with than potato chip panels.

[George Yetka]

I would stay away from real BB or any high end for the garage. I built mine with HD/lowes 4x8 BB when it was 40-60 a sheet. You need strong and flat. MDF has its places but I dont like it in any supportive way. its nice when its supported by something else though.

[Jim Becker]

Both plywood and MDF are worthy materials for shop cabinetry, IMHO. At the present time, I can buy 4x8 nominal 3/4 radiata pine plywood at the Orange store for a price that's within a few bucks of MDF, so that's what I've opted for for my new shop fit-out. That plywood is virtually void free, has thick-thick face veneers and is priced at $59 a sheet. I can also actually lift it by myself. ;) But I'd have no issue using MDF and that was actually my original intention as I really like what Mike Farrington has done with that material in his own shop for fixtures/cabinets/storage. With proper construction/joinery for the material chosen, they cabinets will be great and last a very long time.

[Keegan Shields]

As I recall, Mike uses a lot of biscuits and glue to hold his MDF together. Might hold better than screws do in MDF. I do use the 50/50 mix for my MDF workbench tops and it works great.

I spring for BB because HD plywood is god-awful. My shop furniture gets disassembled, reconfigured, torn apart and used for the next project, etc. I mostly use screws, so everything can be taken apart.

At the end of the day, BB is expensive for a reason. It’s an awesome material and demand is high. Plus who wants to spend their hobby time working with HD plywood with veneer you can sand through in 10 seconds? Half the screws strip out when they hit a void or from the soft mystery wood that makes up the core.

[Larry Frank]

I used Aruaco Ply for my shop cabinets with cases put together with pocket screws. They were Euro style and I prefinished the ply before assembly. It was about 16 ft of upper and lower cabinets.

[Bernie Kopfer]

I have used MDF throughout my shop for cabinetry, both fixed and mobile. Glued and screwed together with Confirmat connectors. After years of use they are all still solid and square. MDF finishes readily and the uniform color throughout the shop looks nice too. However I did make all the drawers out of BB with MDF fronts

[Steve Rozmiarek]

You'll probably find that Austin sources materials for some of the local cabinet shops and that they probably have a prefered material for cases. Austin probably buys that particular sheet in larger lots and will charge less for it. Cabinet makers are really good at finding value, so you could just ask Austin what they use and skip the learning curve.