I'm going to be building some drawer cabinets that are part of a Kapex work bench, about 6 different cabinets the way things are planned now. I seldom work with plywood, but it seems to be the material of choice for cabinets and such. Where I live HD and Menards the the choices for plywood and good enough material is about $80 a sheet. I think I can get a cabinet or so out of a sheet, maybe more. But, the other day I bought some 7' by 8" cherry for about $80. I have enough to build a cabinet and a half with that wood. Just made me think that I bet I can find some other local wood that could be made into panels for the cabinets for less than the cost of plywood, but there is the issue of making the panels. Just thinking about it since the idea of hauling and breaking down plywood is no appealing. Just thinking on the keyboard...... Anyone built solid wood cabinets these days?
Solid Wood Cabinet Panels
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woodferret
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Amish. Although they're not going to post here 
But if you have an amish furniture company nearby, you should check them out and see the construction.
As an example, our nearby one here in NShttps://kvadrofurniture.ca/office-furniture/#tab-filing-cabinets
Office furniture, filing cabinets are pretty much the closest to ply-cab form.
But if you have an amish furniture company nearby, you should check them out and see the construction.As an example, our nearby one here in NShttps://kvadrofurniture.ca/office-furniture/#tab-filing-cabinets
Office furniture, filing cabinets are pretty much the closest to ply-cab form.
I bought a sheet of 3/4” maple/birch plywood from Lowes.
I applied wipe-on poly to the maple side. I mix my own wipe-on with 50% mineral spirits and 50% Minwax gloss.
Apparently that had the mixture containing too much solvent for the plywood. The thin veneer bubbled and split in several places.
That did not happen when I tested with paint, however.
I I will have to replace that shelf eventually.
I have approximately half of the sheet remaining. I ran tests, again applying the wipe on poly. And again the veneer delaminated in spots and split.
Again the painted test was fine.
This was purchased during the pandemic. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the problem, though.
In my mind, Lowes, Home Depot and Menards are selling the same or equivalent products. Run tests with your finish before building.
Or find a vendor that sells furniture grade plywood.
The pity is that the shelf looked so good for about a week. The bubbles started showing up about that time. If you test, let the test pieces stand for a few days before making your decision.
Good luck.
Addendum: Here is a photo of the delaminations. It appears to be a progressive disease and it gets worse by the month. This is a “coffee bar” in my sunroom. It is a really nice spot to sip coffee. I will have to replace this soon. I probably will get a piece of butcherblock countertop for this going forward.
I applied wipe-on poly to the maple side. I mix my own wipe-on with 50% mineral spirits and 50% Minwax gloss.
Apparently that had the mixture containing too much solvent for the plywood. The thin veneer bubbled and split in several places.
That did not happen when I tested with paint, however.
I I will have to replace that shelf eventually.
I have approximately half of the sheet remaining. I ran tests, again applying the wipe on poly. And again the veneer delaminated in spots and split.
Again the painted test was fine.
This was purchased during the pandemic. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the problem, though.
In my mind, Lowes, Home Depot and Menards are selling the same or equivalent products. Run tests with your finish before building.
Or find a vendor that sells furniture grade plywood.
The pity is that the shelf looked so good for about a week. The bubbles started showing up about that time. If you test, let the test pieces stand for a few days before making your decision.
Good luck.
Addendum: Here is a photo of the delaminations. It appears to be a progressive disease and it gets worse by the month. This is a “coffee bar” in my sunroom. It is a really nice spot to sip coffee. I will have to replace this soon. I probably will get a piece of butcherblock countertop for this going forward.
woodferret said:Amish. Although they're not going to post here
As an example, our nearby one here in NShttps://kvadrofurniture.ca/office-furniture/#tab-filing-cabinets
Office furniture, filing cabinets are pretty much the closest to ply-cab form.
Do you think they would sell un-finished solid wood panels? I’ll have to check the local Amish furniture store. Mostly, in our area they are selling storage sheds, but I think there is a furniture store north of me. If they do, that would be very handy.
woodferret
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Packard said:
Purebond from a cabinet supplier will also delam with that much MS. It's a combo of 0.3mm veneers that's not going to stop the penetration and just the NAUF glue they're promoting. That glue is designed to be emission free and water-resistant (-ish), which dovetails with the high likelyhood that people spec'ing purebond will use a WB low-VOC coating.
Grab a standard urea-form ply if you're going to be doing that sort of stuff.
smorgasbord
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John Russell said:
$80 for 4'x8' ply is $2.50 per sf
$80 for 8"x7' solid wood is $17.14 per sf
What am I missing?
John, there's nothing wrong with building cabinets from solid wood, but you should know that your construction methods have to be very different. Cabinet sides would need to be made like a cabinet door...that is, a floating panel in a glued up frame. If you look at expensive homes built in the late 1800s and early 1900s you'll see that built-in cabinets were usually done this way...lots of frame and panel design. It's not just for looks. Rarely will two solid panels expand and contract with seasonal changes in exactly the same way. When they're joined together at a corner and one panel expands faster and farther than it's joining board, bad things happen. Alternatively, the members of a frame don't move much because they're relatively narrow. If the interior panel is allowed to float within the frame everything lives in harmony.
Not knowing this as a very young man, I built an elaborate stereo cabinet out of all solid wood. One night in the middle of a very cold winter in Des Moines, IA when the heater hadn't stopped running for hours and the relative humidity was down around nothing a 6' long, 18" wide red oak glue up split completely in two with a crack that sounded like a gun shot. That was January 1983...the date I learned about wood movement up close and personal.
Not knowing this as a very young man, I built an elaborate stereo cabinet out of all solid wood. One night in the middle of a very cold winter in Des Moines, IA when the heater hadn't stopped running for hours and the relative humidity was down around nothing a 6' long, 18" wide red oak glue up split completely in two with a crack that sounded like a gun shot. That was January 1983...the date I learned about wood movement up close and personal.
smorgasbord
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Introductory video on solid wood cabinets:
smorgasbord said:
I watched that a couple days ago and that is what posed the question for me, but I think the issue Jesff noted convinces me that it is just safer to use plywood for this project. I checked out the plywood again at the local box stores again today and maybe I can find something ok enough.
Crazyraceguy
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You can build cabinets from solid wood, as long as you never have a cross-grain situation. Restriction of movement is the problem, when things move together, it's fine.
However, it is nearly impossible to make this more economical, especially in a retail situation.
Re-claimed or re-purposed wood is a different story. There can be some pretty good deals that way, but they will cost you in terms of time (and more sophisticated equipment)
A cabinet like shown in the pic above, with the boards wrapping around, would be fine for decades. It's the back that will give you problems. Individual narrow pieces, not glued together, or some kind of sheet goods, will solve that problem. The pieces can be tongue & groove or ship-lapped, but they need to be free to move.
The smaller pieces will be easier to handle than full sheets of ply, and that may be a better route for some because of it, but it's going to be more work and likely more costly too.
However, it is nearly impossible to make this more economical, especially in a retail situation.
Re-claimed or re-purposed wood is a different story. There can be some pretty good deals that way, but they will cost you in terms of time (and more sophisticated equipment)
A cabinet like shown in the pic above, with the boards wrapping around, would be fine for decades. It's the back that will give you problems. Individual narrow pieces, not glued together, or some kind of sheet goods, will solve that problem. The pieces can be tongue & groove or ship-lapped, but they need to be free to move.
The smaller pieces will be easier to handle than full sheets of ply, and that may be a better route for some because of it, but it's going to be more work and likely more costly too.
Packard said:I bought a sheet of 3/4” maple/birch plywood from Lowes.
I applied wipe-on poly to the maple side. I mix my own wipe-on with 50% mineral spirits and 50% Minwax gloss.
Apparently that had the mixture containing too much solvent for the plywood. The thin veneer bubbled and split in several places.
That did not happen when I tested with paint, however.
I I will have to replace that shelf eventually.
I have approximately half of the sheet remaining. I ran tests, again applying the wipe on poly. And again the veneer delaminated in spots and split.
Again the painted test was fine.
This was purchased during the pandemic. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the problem, though.
In my mind, Lowes, Home Depot and Menards are selling the same or equivalent products. Run tests with your finish before building.
Or find a vendor that sells furniture grade plywood.
The pity is that the shelf looked so good for about a week. The bubbles started showing up about that time. If you test, let the test pieces stand for a few days before making your decision.
Good luck.
Addendum: Here is a photo of the delaminations. It appears to be a progressive disease and it gets worse by the month. This is a “coffee bar” in my sunroom. It is a really nice spot to sip coffee. I will have to replace this soon. I probably will get a piece of butcherblock countertop for this going forward.
I've used quite a bit of the Lowe's and Home Depot maple plywood with no issues, but used different finishes.
Painting: oil-based primer, skim sand, and then one topcoat (following by cutting and assembling and following up with a 2nd coat of paint.
Clearing: Two coats Oil-based or water-based Minwax. I avoid the gloss sheen. For me two coats of the water-based poly are the best solution and the two coats have less thickness that the two oil-based coats. The sanding to take care of the raised grain caused by the water-based poly keeps the final finish layer thinner. I've never had any delimitation. Maybe the sheets were not glued correctly when made.
derekcohen
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John Russell said:
I am not sure what I am missing here - I only build in solid wood, never in plywood. For me, plywood is fine for jigs .. but then the plywood in Oz is cheap (not so cheap)-and-nasty. I reserve good hardwood for home furniture, and use cheaper wood types for shop furniture (such as Pine).
My local big box store (Bunnings) has laminated panel in a variety of woods, and I picked up a bunch of Merbau panels to build a cabinet for my bench. This is, I imagine, similar to what you are planning.
The cabinet is dovetailed together. Here it is prior to being stained to match the Jarrah bench base ...
The full build is on this page. Scroll down to "Underbench Cabinet: a drawer design and making opus": http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html
Here are a couple of photos ...
Regards from Perth
Derek
derekcohen
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A laminated panel is solid wood, just jointed in strips (think counter top). The thickness of the panel is 20mm
Regards from Perth
Derek
Regards from Perth
Derek
