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Wood for Cabinet - need opinions and facts! :)
MrTeamWork:
Hi all! i am about to choose which type/kind of material to use to construct my Cabinet. The problem is, I am confused as to the different types and advantages/disadvantages of the various kinds of materials to use. I have went through this forum and came up with these possible materials to use:
Plywood;
MDF;( Medium Density Fiber?)
Particleboard;
Oak; ( Then varnish/stain, not laminate finish )
Pine; ( then varnish/stain, not laminate finish )
Exotic woods;
What are the advantages/disadvantages of each?
Which is the cheapest, most expensive, etc? Easiest to work with, hardest to work with? I plan to use Wilsonart Laminate to finish the cabinet, but don't know which type of material it 'sticks' best to. Anyone know?
This has me worried, I don't want to buy large sheets of wood until I know it will be ok to use. Someone with first hand experence help? Links great as well!
THANK YOU!! ^_^
Frostillicus:
--- Quote from: MrTeamWork on March 27, 2003, 06:22:02 am ---Plywood;
MDF;( Medium Density Fiber?)
Particleboard;
Oak; ( Then varnish/stain, not laminate finish )
Pine; ( then varnish/stain, not laminate finish )
Exotic woods;
--- End quote ---
If i wanted to go for a natural finish like varnish or light stain, I would pick cabinet-grade oak 3/4" oak plywood. I would finish it naturally and polish it to a nice living-room furniture gleam. I like t-molding as well, so the plywood edges would be covered by say, a complimentary color of t-molding. If you don't want t-molding then I'd go with solid wood.
That would be more expensive, unless you joined the boards yourself. Either way you'd need some big pieces for a full-size cab.
Pine would be too soft. You should decide first if you want to paint, laminate, varnish, etc. then you can pick a good material and we can give better advice.
hyiu:
ok... in general.... up to my knowledge... (which may not be very accurate...)
MDF is easy to work with... and cheap... and good result if you want to paint.... BUT... it create a lot of sawdust... (not good for your health if you breath it in...) and its heavy....
(a few people have mentioned there are more expensive ligthweight MDF which are as tough.... but I'm not sure...)
also.... if somehow the wood get wet... MDF will be BAD...
(plywood is a little better than MDF...)
in general... wood and water.... no good....
I think you should stay away from particle board...
you mentioned you want to laminate it when done....
then I guess you can use some cheaper grade plywood....
and roughly sand the surface, and use contact cement to bond the plywood with laminate.... that should work for you...
plywood... (I think...) in general is stronger than MDF....
usually.... oak... brich... or other more exotic wood are more expensive... I would recommend u to use it ONLY if you're going to stain it and make it have a more "furniture" look....
but if you're going to cover it with laminate anyway.... no need to spend the extra $$... plywood and MDF should be strong enough....
hope it helps...
Chad:
MDF is the way to go if you are painting. I used 5/8 MDF on mine and will never use anything else. He is right it does make a lot of dust (more like powder). You should use a small mask from Home Depot or do your work outside. It is easy to rout and only needs a coat of primer before you paint. You will also need to use a counter sink drill bit for the screws. It is very heavy so I would use 5/8 insted of 3/4 but both will work fine.
Evo:
If you are going to use oak or birch. Instead of using t-molding, you should use vaneer(sp). Vaneer(sp) is a thin strip of either oak or birch(depending on what wood you'll use, you by the according) that when heated it gets sticky. This way you can cover the edges of the Oak/Birch and varnish them and they'll look like the rest of the cab.
There's an mame cab company don't remember the name that makes an all oak cab it looks really nice. The name of the cab is Grand Ol Daddy or something like that.
Evo