Kitchen Cabinets

[jack dempsey]

Hello, I am contemplating building kitchen cabinets for my daughter who has bought her first house. The house has a small kitchen and I think it could be a reasonable project to accomplish. I have built some furniture in the past but I have not built any kitchen cabinets. The cabinets will be painted. I am looking for advice on materials and build methods from folks who have tackled a project like this. My first inclination is to do shaker style doors that would be painted hardwood and some type of laminate product for the boxes. All advice is appreciated with regard to materials and sources for help with construction details. Thanks, Jack

[Rod Sheridan]

Hello Jack, poplar is a very good hardwood for painting.

I would use either melamine or pre-finished plywood for the boxes…..Regards, Rod

[jack dempsey]

Thanks Rob, I was thinking poplar or maple.

[Charles Coolidge]

Consider 3/4 inch ply for the boxes. Been there done that building kitchen cabinets with 1/2 inch boxes on my old house. When I had my new house constructed I spec'd 3/4 inch Hickory ply, they are built like a tank! The upcharge was minor vs the 1/2 inch ply.

What Rod said, finishing a whole set of kitchen cabinets in clear urethane was the worst part of my kitchen cabinet project by far. Painting probably easier but just time consuming and my kitchen wasn't that large.

[Mark Wooden]

My preference for painted cabinets is 'soft' maple; it mills and sands smoother with less grain "read through" than poplar, but a little more expensive if cost is a consideration
Pre finished ply is usually my go to for carcasses, but melamine makes a nice cleanable interior surface, heavy though and particle board has a tendency to split and blow out without good pre-drilling. Lightweight MDF is another consideration if you dont mind painting the boxes.

[Ole Anderson]

One major consideration is how to build the boxes. I choose to use a dowelling jig with my 3/4" hickory uppers as it is totally hidden. And your choice of paint will be critical as you want something that is self levelling if you don't spray. I went with 5 coats of wipe on P&L #38 varnish as about the easiest way to get a perfectly smooth finish without spraying, which by itself is not without a significant learning curve. I did raised panel doors for my son's kitchen upgrade. Used soft maple for the rails and styles and mdf for the raised panels. Painted them using SW paint. https://www.sherwin-williams.com/hom...ets-in-5-steps

[Paul F Franklin]

It's blasphemy here, and I personally wouldn't do it...but consider buying IKEA boxes and building the doors/drawers. Their boxes are frameless, but you could add face frames if that's the style you want.

[Marc Fenneuff]

You’ll want a pre-finished material for the carcasses. I used 3/4” melamine in our kitchen and will continue for other projects. Spray the face frames, doors and drawer fronts if possible.

[Mitch schiffer]

I use prefinished uv plywood for the boxes. As for finish if I'm going white I use a white laquer any other color I either use a tinted laquer or a flat paint with a laquer top coat.

[John TenEyck]

My advice is to buy one or two books about building kitchen cabinets. Several to choose from, for both frameless and traditional faceframe styles.

FWIW, painted cabinets are not any easier than natural finish. What sins you can hide with putty you pay for because paint shows more defects than clearcoat. Every tiny little defect. My vote for wood is soft maple. Poplar dents too easily.

And I hope you are in reasonably good shape. Schlepping the sheet goods and parts cut from them, multiple times, needed for a kitchen full of cabinets is tough work.

Good luck.

John

[Jared Sankovich]

Cabinets aren't hard to build, it's just mostly repetitive.

I don't like poplar for face frames, the grain telegraphs and it dents too easily. Soft maple is superior.

As for painted vs stained.. painted is a lot more work.

I prefer 1/2" for uppers (3/4 decks and shelves), single face frames and as large as a unit as you can lift / move into the space.

[Lisa Starr]

I've done 2 kitchens in the past and am in the planning stages for the 3rd. It is an easy, but bulky project. I use 3/4" plywood for the boxes, including the backs. It adds to the cost, but simplifies the construction. Basically, I build 30" high boxes for the lower cabinets and install them on a separate frame that I've leveled perfectly. That allows setting the cabinets without the need to shim them level. Unless a very heavy counter is going to be installed, I don't put solid tops on the cabinets. If you plan your laps correctly, you can use pocket screws to help assemble them and none of them will show.

Everyone has a way that works best for them. If you would like particulars on my way, feel free to PM me for the details.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use 1/2" melamine (not from BORGS) for boxes, including backs. Butt joint, glued (melamine glue,) and screwed. Soft maple face frames. Best Book I ever had is Danny Proulx's book "Making Your Own Kitchen Cabinets. After I got a copy, completely changed how I made cabinets. His method combines both the look of face frames and Euro hardware into one system.

[Bryan Hall]

I build a lot of cabinets and I've developed a system that I like so hopefully you can steal a few ideas from me.

1. If you haven't worked with a cutlist program yet, give that a quick spin. There's a free one called cutlist optimizer and it will help you with ordering all your ply. I also prefer working with 4x4 vs 4x8 sheets (because who likes picking up 4x8 sheets!?) So when I run the optimizer I tell it that all my stock is 4x4 and I just have the lumber yard cut it for me. Even though there will be a little extra waste doing 4x4 sheets, you can end up using those scraps elsewhere.

2. For materials: use lumber that you like and would want to use again. I make all of mine out of 3/4 appleply, baltic birch, or a nice prefinished maple. This way, I again, have useful scraps for the project or other builds later. Same thing goes for the faceframe and stiles/rails. Do you like working with soft maple? Then make them out of soft maple so you have soft maple leftovers. Do you prefer hard maple or have a hard maple project coming up? Then you have your answer. I make mine 7/8 thick, which is based on how big my router bits can handle for the stiles and rails.

3. Kids: if your daughter has, or is planning for kids in the future, I really recommend face frame cabinets over frameless. When those kids start to grab cabinet doors they will hold up better if secured to real wood. Every time I see an expensive hinge ripped out of a cheap particle board box I sigh. High quality drawer slides as well! I prefer undermounts and you should note that there is a 3-4 month lead time on the best brands for these.

Have fun with the project! Such a great gift idea. Take your time, doing it perfect should be good enough. That way every time she opens one of those doors and drawers she'll think of you and smile.

[jack dempsey]

Thanks for all of the replies. I should not be surprised that folks on this site take the time to give me great information on their experiences with cabinets. I think I will jump in and take a stab at building them. I believe I will make a cabinet to use in my shop to get the lay of the land so to speak. As for painting I think I will inquire locally to see what someone would charge to spray them. If that is too steep I may try my hand on them. Thanks again.