Cypress Kitchen Cabinets

[Bill Leonard]

Has anyone built or considered building kitchen cabinets from cypress? It is used extensively for siding and flooring, but I don't find any reference to its use in cabinet or furniture making. I am considering using it for new kitchen cabinets in our retirement waterfront home in South Carolima. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Bill

[Chris Barton]

Cyprus is widely used in south Louisiana for cabinetry and furniture. I owned a home in Baton Rouge that had cyprus cabinets and they were very nice. Cyprus tends to look a little like pine or spruce.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I can't think of any reason not to use Cypress, it's a relatively inexpensive wood that will take stain well. Be sure to show us pics!

[Von Bickley]

Cypress is beautiful wood and works good. Some people say that it can be finished to look similar to heart pine. If you like it, go for it.

Where in South Carolina????

[Carl Eyman]

In the house my wife and I owned in Mass. in the fifties, I made cabinets from pine. I thought they looked darn good. The doors were made from 3 pieces of T&G sheathing with a "v" grouve and held together with batons. I remember it cost 10 cents a board foot; so I could cut it selectively to minimize knots. I finished it with a penetrating sealer and wax If I remember correctly there were 55 cabinet doors.

About 10 years ago I was visiting in MA and went by to see if the owner would let me visit. The house had been torn down and a million dollar job built in its place. I guess the 1 3/4 acres it sat on 15 miles from Boston just became too valuable to be occupied by a modest house.

[josh bjork]

My impression from the tiny bit I have worked with it, is that it is too soft. It bends and stays bent more than any wood I have seen. Maybe you can find a better quality of this wood that what I had. It would be a lot of work to make cabinets and have the doors bend easily and sag. I'm no expert on it, maybe it won't happen and someone has the reason. Possibly if you used it you could leave the frame & panel of the door extra thick to compensate?

[Jim Becker]

To a certain extent, I agree with Josh...cypress is pretty soft stuff...softer than any pine I've worked with. That's not to say it's not useable. In fact, the QS and rift grain is absolutely beautiful.