Popular vs Maple for paint grade office cabinets

[scott vroom]

I'm building office cabinets for my brother's home office, typical uppers w/doors, and drawer bases. The cabinets will be painted with a GF poly. Cost is an issue on this job and I'm debating the following:

1) Popular or Maple for the face frames, door rails & stiles, drawer fronts
2) MDF vs maple for the raised panels (std coved edge).

BF cost for 4/4 S2S 1E in my area: Hard Maple $3.85; Popular $1.90

I'm thinking that the base cabinets, which tend to take more abuse than uppers, need to be maple face frames/rails/stiles. I can probably get away with poplar on the wall cabinet face frames/rails/stiles. I have no problem using MDF for the door raised panels

Anybody have a stong opinion on this? The cost difference would be in the hundreds. I can talk my brother into spending more if Poplar is a bad choice even for wall cabinets.

EDIT: I just spoke with my local supplier and he' s suggesting Common Soft Maple ($2.10 bf) as a low cost alternative to Poplar. I'm going to look at his stock today to see if it's acceptable. It has some knots; if they're smooth & tight I might go with it for paint grade. Comments welcomed.

[Frank Drew]

Scott,

I think poplar would be fine for paint grade on both uppers and lowers unless you anticipate a great deal abuse to them; on the other hand, there really won't be so much material in just face and door frames that even the doubled price per foot for maple will add up to all that much.

[David Weaver]

Poplar should be fine, is there any reason to worry about dents or strength?

I haven't painted anything other than poplar and cherry, but I would rather have soft maple than either of those that you mention. What kind of knots are you talking about, big tight ones with cracks, or little pin sized ones that won't need any putty? I'd hesitate on anything larger than pin size because if the wood moves, they'll telegraph through the paint. I've never gotten anything other than FAS soft maple, so I don't know what the knots look like.

[scott vroom]

Scott,

I think poplar would be fine for paint grade on both uppers and lowers unless you anticipate a great deal abuse to them; on the other hand, there really won't be so much material in just face and door frames that even the doubled price per foot for maple will add up to all that much.

The cost difference between poplar and hard maple for just the faceframes/stiles/rails is about $200. I agree for many folks not a huge sum.

[Jay Brewer]

I prefer Soft Maple to Poplar for paint grade work, especially if the price is close to the same as it is here. Poplar does not have as tight a grain as Maple, requiring more coats to get a good build. Some Poplar is very dark, requiring even more paint to get full coverage. Maple will also be less likely to dent or ding up.

Hope this helps

[Steve Griffin]

Another factor is your tooling. If you don't have a wide belt sander, then that's another strike against hard maple--you are much more likely to get some chipout which will need filling.

A plus for poplar is that it absorbs paint well. It might ding easier, but you might be more likely to scratch off paint with maple.

I have a slight preference for soft maple, but have no problem using poplar. I can't think of one reason not to use MDF for the panels though.

Stability wise, if you have large doors I'd give the advantage to poplar. Hard maple is much more likely to warp on you.

-Steve

[Chip Lindley]

Soft maple is NOT that soft. It will hold up better to small abuses than popular will. It will also hold screws or fasteners better. Soft maple is very overlooked as a good cabinet wood.

[Jeff Duncan]

Soft maple all the way. Much heavier, durable, and stable than poplar. For panels mdf is fine, cheaper, more stable, and with the right schedule paints very well.
Poplar is best for moldings and non-structural elements IMHO.
good luck,
JeffD

[David Hostetler]

I tend to agree with the suggestions to go with Maple, however the idea of worrying so much about the quality of the material and then wanting to use MDF for the raised panels makes me scratch my head... That makes no sense...

[Steve Griffin]

I tend to agree with the suggestions to go with Maple, however the idea of worrying so much about the quality of the material and then wanting to use MDF for the raised panels makes me scratch my head... That makes no sense...

In what way would MDF be inferior for paint grade panels?

-Steve

[David Hostetler]

Durability. MDF in my experience dents and chips easily, yet the OP seems to be concerned with durability of the cabinets...

[Carl Civitella]

Poplar, they paint it for a reason..It holds paint well. I would not want any knots, they bleed no matter what you do. Carl

[David Werkheiser]

I would use soft maple instead of poplar, I am paying $2.30 bd.ft. in S.E. Pa. I see no problem using MDF for the panels if the ramps are sanded and primed twice before assembly. If you look at the cabinet door industry, few if any use poplar for door construction as it is not as stable as maple.
David Werkheiser

[Ole Anderson]

I vote for soft maple and MDF. Did all the kitchen cabinet doors in my son's home with that combination. Painted airless spray with SW premium latex enamel, it is self levelling. Only problem I have had with MDF raised panels is the area cut by the router is a softer surface and needs to be sealed well or you will really raise the grain if you prime with a latex. I have used a watered down woodworkers glue, half and half, to seal the cut areas.

[Marc Myers]

Poplar is usually considered the lumber of choice for paint applications. However, all good paint jobs regardless of material, start with at least 2 coats of a good quality primer. A good painter can make just about anything look good if the paint job is done correctly.