Cabinet Question

[JeepMr]

I'm picking up some Maple tomorrow to try and make Kitchen Cabinets. I'll use the Maple for the face frame and doors. Any suggestions or opinions on what to make the carcass out of? Maple plywood or a different type of wood for a contrast. This will be my first attempt at cabinets so any and all suggestions or opinions are welcome. Thanks

 

[Bas]

I'm using quartersawn white oak for the face frames & doors, and prefinished birch plywood for the carcass. I would not go overboard with contrast between face frame and carcass. If anything, I'd do a contrast between the face frame and doors, or rails/ stiles and door panel.

I would definitely choose a light colored plywood, to make it easier to find stuff in the cabinet. Maple and birch both qualify.

 

[Travis Porter]

Pre-finished plywood is the way to go. You can always attach whatever you want to the outside say maple plywood or another type.

 

[Skymaster]

+2 on the Pre fin, Horizon has great pre fin Maple and Birch, and several others. You can get one side prefin in aa cabinet grade which has a great unfinished face, this way the pre fin goes to the interior and u can stain to whatever u like outside

 

[red]

Prefinished birch plywood is the way to go. Get fancy with the doors if you want, just not the carcass. Post some pics when you get the project rolling.

Red

 

[tjgreen]

+4, maple or birch ply, pre-finished. Whichever's cheaper, the inside of cabinets doesn't get a lot of scrutiny. Unless your spouse wants them painted inside in which case unfinished or MDF. As far as other suggestions/opinions, depending on your experience level I might suggest you make a shop cabinet or two first to practice, before tackling the kitchen. I did and am glad I did - my second set of cabinets was much, much better than my first, which hang proudly (and slightly askew) in my shop. Oh, also, if you don't have a crosscut sled, good project to build one.

 

[McRabbet]

Michael,

I make my base cabinets from 3/4" cabinet grade plywood with 1/4" backs on base cabinets and 1/2" backs on wall cabinets. If you can find prefinished Maple, it is worth the 15-20% higher price. There are also laminated products you may want to consider to simplify interior cleaning. In your area, check the Wurth Group at 1441 Hwy 101S in Greer (near the GSP airport) or here in NC at Mountain Sawyers (click on their ad on our sidebar) -- Mtn Sawyers are great guys and carry prefinished and unfinished hardwood plywoods at very fair prices. Tell them I sent you and you might get a better price.

 

[Charles Lent]

If this is your first attempt at building a cabinet, buy some cheap 3/4" plywood and some pine for the face frame and then learn by building one base cabinet from it. You will likely make some mistakes that would be very costly if you used cabinet grade maple and plywood. If this cabinet goes together OK you can use it as a drill press stand or something else for the shop, but you will have learned a lot about what not to do to make a cabinet, and you won't have wasted any expensive wood.

The Kreg jig website www.kregtool.com offers a very good booklet (MD-CAB01) for $5 that gives you the standard dimensions and assembly information needed for making kitchen type cabinets that is very helpful. Its about 30 pages of no nonsense information and dimensions that will make building them much simpler. Their Cabinetmaking DVD is also very helpful. If you don't already have a Kreg jig you will likely buy one after you have watched their cabinetmaking DVD. The jig makes cabinetmaking much easier and faster and is well worth the investment. I have and like the K3 Pro jig kit, several types of the kwick clamps, plus several other of their jigs for drawer slide installation, etc. They are all top notch and very helpful.

Charley

 

[Bas]

The jig makes cabinetmaking much easier and faster and is well worth the investment.

Agreed, a pocket hole jig is great for making face frames. I don't even use glue, just screws. If this is your first set of cabinets, I highly recommend Danny Proulx book, Building Kitchen Cabinets. His technique is not the most sophisticated, but it's excellent for learning and should yield a nice looking set of cabinets. Best of all, it has cut lists that really take the guesswork out of things.