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Thread: Noob question on what wood to use for cabinets

  1. #16
    Never liked having to make anything for kitchen cabinets. Everybody wants something unique ….that is in the current popular style.
    How about some symmetry, like nice rooms have, the kitchen doesn’t have to look like a restaurant thing. Punched tin doors,or punched copper. Copper screening in doors. Inlaid laminate. Reeded projecting stiles. Linoleum counter tops. Always make the kitchen the way YOU
    want, because just as a dog will not live in the old former dog’s house, people will seldom like to use a used kitchen.
    Last edited by Mel Fulks; 12-03-2021 at 12:48 AM.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Columbus, Ohio, USA
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    3,441
    Although I have worked with solid wood for cabinets and such, it is significantly more work than using plywood.

    I found that using a Kreg Jig (or similar) is very fast and strong. That said, there are many ways to make a strong cabinet out of plywood, but the first time I used a Kreg jig I was sold.

    You need to understand how you will take care of those plywood edges. For cabinets I usually just use a face frame from solid wood. I have used many different methods...

    https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entri...SAAEgJkpPD_BwE

    I built a nice desk and I used a veneer (both iron on and the already sticky stuff. I used the veneer on a desk and one of the edges is always hit by a chair. It is still holding but I can tell that it is a veneer (not that anyone else has noticed or knows).

    Now, when I know there will be abuse on the edge, I just glue a piece of wood on from 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. This holds up very well to abuse since it is solid wood. I will admit that I have an interesting setup that very quickly trims the wood flush to the plywood using my festool router, but there are so many ways to do this I won't bore you with the details (but it has attachments to the router with a flush trim bit so that I can take the router to the wood).

    Also depending on what you want to do, I really like prefinished plywood, but, then you are left with the need to finish the other bits to match. For example, if you have edging, which is more of a problem than face frames.

  3. #18
    I would make the boxes of plywood but if you like the look of face frame cabinets I would add a solid wood face frame of the material of your choice. I would make the doors of solid wood, possibly with a plywood panel. You could have a maple face frame and maple flat panel doors, for instance, with 1/4 maple plywood panels. That would look nice and is quite easy. You could switch to raised panels of solid maple if you want to dress the basic cabinet up some.

    An advantage of 3/4 plywood for uppers is it lets you go without a face frame and just make overlay doors.

    I usually just glue and screw particularly shop cabinets together. Usually with through screws that get covered by plugs if they show. I use pocket screws sometimes too but I consider them uglier and harder to hide than through screws. But pocket screws are a good way to make a simple face frame. The screws won't show in that case.

  4. #19
    If there was a downvote button, this would get downvoted, but I'm in the middle of a shop cabinet build using melamine 3/4 for the caraccas, oak face frames. Considering the quantity that I'm doing, 2 walls of base and uppers, there was (is) zero chance of me affording that much plywood. The entire stack of melamine I got, which took two truck loads, was less than 4 sheets of plywood. In hind sight, probably should have done the uppers in 1/2, regardless of cost, they're heavy! But they're shop cabinets, as long as they hold stuff I really don't care what they look like, they're all going to get covered with every single glue, solvent, finish, and motor oil product I use.

  5. #20
    Thanks everyone for the information. I was able to realize my real question was furniture vs cabinets. I had not realized there was such a large difference between the two.

    now I have to go read up on that topic

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    6,983
    I'll toss this out for you also.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klv0jzWD26w

    It's the Marc Sommerfeld cabinet making videos - the link is for #1 - there are 3 of them.

    I found it extremely easy to make a whole kitchen using his method & tools.

    As far as shop storage and jigs go for that matter, I used to just bang out whatever from the cheapest junk I could find - sometimes even OSB.
    After seeing some pictures of other people's shops, I took the hint that the shop is the best place to practice everything - up to including how you finish the wood.
    The laundry room is another excellent place to practice things like cabinets, crown molding and counter tops.
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Mt Pleasant SC
    Posts
    721
    I used to live 45 minutes from Shelby NC and just remembered The Roundup Store has cabinet ply from 1/4 thick to 1 1/4 thick. Limited species sometimes but good prices.
    https://www.roundupshelby.com/buildingmaterials

    I used the 1 inch thick on a few projects and it’s much more flat than 3/4.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Ogden, UT
    Posts
    1,659
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    I took a half semester class for cabinetmaking and learned a lot / became comfortable enough with cabinetry to go off on my own.

    It's a completely different world with it's own language, materials, tools, etc. It's overwhelming. If you have the time / resources, taking a class could be a really good way to become familiar. If you aren't able to take a class, I'm sure you can still reach out to the "professors" and ask them questions / meet with them. They are a public resource.

    After reading, studying, etc., go to a big box store and look at their cabinets with a more keen eye. See what is really going on and you'll have your "ah ha" moment soon enough.

    I'm still new to the world so it's still a bit overwhelming to me. But you find that mostly everything is standardized one way or another. People have been doing this for years and years and have pretty slick methods of getting it done.

    Cheers,
    Last edited by andrew whicker; 12-07-2021 at 11:01 AM.

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