What Wood to use for Cabinets

[Tony Falcone]

I'm an amateur woodworker and I've made cabinets and tables etc but always out of veneered and stained plywood. I want to make some white painted Shaker style cabinets and I'd like to know what type of wood to use ? Also what's the best finish to use?

[Robert Engel]

Any non porous, smooth grain wood will work. For hardwood, something like maple and for softwood, poplar and pine (no knots!!).

I think the best way is to spray, but I don't have the capability for that.

Here's what works for me:
Paint is very unforgiving any joint seams will stick out like a sore thumb.
I use an oil based primer, 2-3 coats and sand between coats.
I use a good quality latex (I like Sherwin Williams paint) again sand between coats with 320 grit).
You can finish with a wax if desired.
Good Luck.

[Lee Schierer]

I would use maple or yellow poplar as their grain won't show through the paint and they take paint well. I would avoid yellow pine because the pitch can bleed through your paint and the grain tends to be more pronounced. Sand your cabinet to 220 grit, fill any voids with a hardening wood filler, not one of those putty sticks and sand it smooth. Make your joints tight and fill in any chip out areas with wood filler. Apply a primer coat and sand again as latex type paints will raise the grain and any paint will feel rough after the first coat. I would apply at least 3 wet coats following the manufacturers recommendation for drying time between coats.

With regard to hardness (Janka scale):

Eastern White Pine is 380
Yellow Poplar is 540
S.Yellow Pine (Loblolly & Shortleaf) is 690
Yellow Pine (long leaf) is 870
Soft Maple is 999
Hard Maple is 1450

[Jay Pugsley]

Myself, I would not spend the money on maple and cover it with paint. Poplar has been the go to wood for painted items for a long time now. And, poplar is a hardwood. My father has had good results with standard lumberyard 1" pine for all kinds of painted projects (wall cabinets, desks, bookshelves, trim and baseboard, etc).

[Tony Falcone]

Thanks, yea I wasn't going to use pine because it's probably too soft, I was thinking poplar. The kitchen cabinets I already have (bought from cabinet supplier) are actually maple under the paint, and I was surprised they use it under paint. I'm also going to buy a decent HVLP sprayer, possibly a Fuji, because I'll be doing more painted projects.

[Robert Engel]

Its fairly common.

My brother has had several kitchens remodels done with maple under paint. I believe they use soft maple.

They are sprayed whoever is doing it the finish is awesome. Low gloss egg shell type paint.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I wasn't going to use pine because it's probably too soft, I was thinking poplar.

If pine is too soft then I believe poplar would be too soft. Think about soft maple. I like the look of ash under paint.

[Von Bickley]

For painted cabinets, I would use birch plywood, with poplar or maple face-frames.

[Jay Pugsley]

Von, I would agree. The birch plywood would give you better stability than solid wood, and the face frames would give the end product an all solid wood look.

[Tony Falcone]

Ah thanks Yonak, I've never used poplar I always thought it was harder than pine. Yea Von I was going to use plywood for the boxes, I may try prefinished for that. I like the look of painted doors with a honey colored maple interior, I'm you've seen that look in kitchen cabinets before.