What species for paint

poplar but i don’t really like to paint wood and would prefer mdf.

Hmm, I don’t know why I didn’t think of MDF. How capable is MDF of holding heavy loads, as compared with ply? Also, if I were making some frame and panel doors to paint, would it make sense to make the whole thing out of MDF? Or would it be better to build the frame from poplar and the panel from MDF?

Thanks!

What use for the cabinets—- kitchen, garage, utility room?

A whole cabinet out of MDF would be pretty heavy. Plus the edges don’t take screws well.

Generally, if I were going to use paint, for general purpose cabinets, I’d use ply and do the frames in pine.

MDF works well (will take a router edge), but is very dusty—- ply I think does better, but you have to deal with the edge voids.

Just a few random thoughts. Hope it helps a littl.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

The cabinets are going in the shop/garage, but I’m also trying to use this as an opportunity to test options for a future project that will go in a more visible, inside the house, location.

Then I would definitely use ply and pine/popular. You probably won’t use MDF for the inside the house cabinets. Some will argue that point, but I like ply better. You can practice frame and panel with the pine better than MDF.

If you are near a local lumberyard—- you may be able to get some cutoff of oak, walnut or cherry. We have a local place here in Ft. Worth than you can buy the edge cutoffs for 25-50 cents a lineal foot. I’ve made tons of stuff with that material. If you can do that you can practice with some goo hardwods and not be out much money.

-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!

soft maple is a bit harder and will take paint really well and is easy to machine. It is more durable than softer woods. I generally use silver maple because it is easy to come by in my location.
I use poplar as a secondary wood for cabinets in many cases. I prefer a harder wood for the face frames and doors and drawers.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

I’ll have to look into that. I just moved so I’m not familiar with my local lumberyard yet. What kind of ply would you recommend?

A closed grain wood such as birch, beech, soft maple all have medium to hard density to take everyday abuse and take paint well unlike flakey grained species such as pine, oak, ash, etc. As for poplar it is not really all that dense and its wild color schemes may make it difficult to paint.

-- barlow

Definitely poplar.

-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.

Second, errr, third Poplar. I’ve experienced hinge screws and such pull out of pine, and I defintely wouldn’t suggest MDF. Not that MDF can’t be used in this instance, but because you’d likely want to pull out all your hair after having to fill all the edges/profiles of the MDF edges with putty/drywall compound to make it take primer/paint well. And, you should always prime MDF with oil-based paint, and I don’t like that for interior applications.

In my opinion Poplar is the best choice, and my second option(s) would be soft Maple which was already suggested, as were Birch and Beech. They are just a little mo’ ‘spensif.

As far as ply goes, a decent birch or maple ply at my supplier runs in the $45-50 range, and prefinished maple (B2) is about $75ish. 1/2” is more than sufficient. ((Those are wholesale/contractor prices, and you might expect to pay a bit more.?))

-- Jarrod, Eagle Nest, NM http://anthologyfinefurniture.wordpress.com

I did new molding in my entire house. Older home, painted moldings. Poplar, pine lets the knots bleed through. I just don’t use MDF, so I really don’t have an opinion on it. But for painted wood, poplar is best. I also do decorative painting and I use poplar for that also. I have lots of trouble with trying to get a good paint finish on pine.

-- Berta in NC

Most of the Amish cabinet shops around here use soft maple for painted cabinets.

-- David, Southern Indiana, http://www.freedhardwoods.com

For painted wood, I like local maple – usually Silver Maple or Box Elder.

Consider milk paints for an old fashioned look.

-- Randy (P), traditional rustic wood crafts, Morning View, Kentucky

I’ve had good luck with both MDF and birch plywood. I made some high-end library shelves from MDF, at the client’s insistence, and I was pleased with the outcome.

You might also consider MDO (Medium Density Overlay) which is either MDF or plywood with a very smooth fibrous (paper?) layer on the outside. I haven’t used it yet, but it gets a lot of recommendations. It’s supposed to the the ultimate paintable sheet product.

Before you make up your mind, go here http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm to check out your design.

-- Steve B - New Life Home Improvement

Check out my kitchen cabinets in my projects. the cabinets are birch, the raised panel doors are mdf. i built 26 doors for just over $100. it cuts very good and takes paint exceptionally well. I didn’t have to fill any holes with woodfiller, it just like working with wood. You can get your joints as tight or as loose as you want them or are capable of. They are mounted to the cabinets with blum concealed hinges. You do need to predrill all the holes but once drilled they are there.
i buillt them 2 years ago and have had more trouble with the hinges staying in the plywood than the MDF. not one screw has stripped out of the MDF.

-- Joey, Magee, Ms http://woodnwaresms.com

Hey Joey, thanks for the advice, and nice cabinets. Were the door frames MDF also, or just the panels?

I’ve done lots of painted cabinets. I’d stick with the MDF/Poplar theme.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

The face frames for the cabinets were a mix of either plywood or poplar. the frames on the doors were mdf, with mdf panels. the entire door construction was mdf. the frames were cope and stick construction.

-- Joey, Magee, Ms http://woodnwaresms.com

Poplar

-- It's better to have people think you're stupid rather than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Thanks for all the replies. Here’s a (possibly stupid) follow up question: how do you deal with the plywood edges when painting? Do I need to apply edge banding, and then paint, or can I fill them with something (what?)? Thanks!

Poplar is popular! Cabinet hinges get a lot of abuse, more so than anything else, so you want the frame made of a hardwood. Screws and MDF just don’t get along, although they do manufacture a specific screw just for MDF. Pine is a soft wood as is Soft Maple (aka: Swamp Maple here). Poplar though is a hardwood and works great for painted cabinet frames. It is often used as furniture frames, but also has a greenish tint and doesn’t take stain well.

Your plywood edges would be covered with the face frame and normally won’t be seen. But if you do want to see the edge, edge banding works well. You apply it with a hot iron (hot melt glue) then trim the excess after dry. Do not allow your significant other to see that you are using her good clothes iron though! That’s a bad idea. Or you can glue/nail a breadboard type edge to it as well. I wouldn’t reccomend fillers/plasters/wood putty for the edges though. You’ll spend to much time trying to get it right and still end up with end grain showing thru.

Hope this helps.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

MDO plywood will give you the best paintable surface. You can edgeband with polyester edgebanding, also great for painting. MDO is used in the sign painting business for the signs you see on the highways.

-- Don, Pittsburgh

In my experience I have seen poplar for paint grade face frames, soft maple for doors and draw fronts and birch shop ply for carcases. I like the idea of soft maple for both the doors and face frames..it is a little harder than poplar.

-- Women love me.....trees fear me