edge glued pine(I think) wood good for sit down cabinet?

[SNAAKE]

sup gang..anyone ever use the edge glued pine wood lowes sell? 2'x4' is $23 and hardwood is $40. im trying to make a sit down cabinet. trying to figure out if this would be ok to use. doing t-molding slot too.

I think its this one but they had 24"x48" in store
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Common-3-4-in-x-16-in-x-3-ft-Actual-0-62-in-x-15-25-in-x-3-ft-Spruce-Pine-Fir-Board/1000894672

[bobbyb13]

From my experience it would work but you would have to brace the crap out of it.
3/4" plywood is a much safer bet.

[MartyKong]

Yep, Sure have. I have a door on the front of my cabinet and didn't want wood battens visable so I used a biscuit jointer/ bisquits with plenty of glue to secure the back of the cabinet. Rock solid.

[nitrogen_widget]

I built a table out of cheap mr 2nds pine boards and glued the top boards together along the edge for about $25 20yrs ago because i needed something to replace the press board computer desk i had since highschool.
the wood dried out and shrunk and some boards split down the middle because the wood glue held the edges together.
my only real experience.

after that just switched to what is called sanded plywood and trim for other projects.

i'm still using the table as my computer desk and it is structurally sound.

[MartyKong]

That brings back memories. We had pressed board desks in grade school that were mainly held together from all the gum underneath:D.

[RobodocX]

The barriers to using solid wood for cabinet construction are (1) cost, (2) wood movement and (3) the work involved in constructing large panels for cases. Plywood is a much more stable material for large cases, is relatively less costly and obviously comes in large sheets that eliminate the need to make a bunch of glued up panels. Pine is also soft and dents easily. I would strongly discourage you from using construction grade lumber (despite the cheaper cost) because this wood is very variable in water content which complicates construction. Glued up panels, such as those sold at Lowes, are ok but not cost comparative to plywood in most cases for a given size. If you are going to be making large panels from smaller hardwood boards (pine or otherwise) you are going to have to have means to rip and joint edges, larger clamps for glue ups and a practical means for flattening large panels. So, it's definitely doable but a bigger "ask" than making a large case unit out of plywood. That's why your cabinet shops don't build kitchens out of solid wood. If you are willing to pay for dry hardwood (or select dry pine) and go through the trouble of building large panels, you need to keep in mind that this wood will move significantly in width with seasonal changes (assuming you don't live in a year round desert). This impacts on your joinery choices - again, very doable but takes some thought. You also have end grain to contend with so butt joining panels can be problematic and generally requires either internal tenons (like dowels or dominos or splines) or internal hardware (like corner brackets) to keep things strongly together in load bearing areas.

Plywood exists for a reason (basically to solve the problems of #1-3 above) and is certainly an easier choice for what  you are planning. Building a sit down cabinet out of entirely solid wood (or heaven forbid pine or construction grade lumber) adds significant levels of difficulty and tooling requirements to the project and "may" affect longevity of the unit over time if you live in a location with seasonal weather changes.

Hope that's helpful.

[SNAAKE]

cool thx! yeah didnt go with that and likely going with smooth plywood.

[mixlplex]

Wow, SNAAKE, thanks for asking the question! I too had picked up some Edge Glued wood from Lowes since it was cheaper than the plywood, plus I would be able to run a router along the edge to get it bullnosed instead of having to put t-molding on it. Looks like it's time to return it. The best laid plans of mice and men ...