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Hard or soft maple for kitchen cabinet face frames?

9K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  wapakfred 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hard or soft maple for kitchen cabinet face frames? Would soft maple suffice for this sort of application? Any other paint grade wood I should consider?

Thanks in advance….
 
#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
I kinda cringe when I see someone refer to soft maple as "paint grade wood". Anyway, soft maple is actually harder than cherry, so if hardness was the concern it should do just fine. I think I would consider poplar as well…though it may not save any money over the maples, and it is quite bit softer.
 
#4 ·
Should work fine, still a pretty tough wood. Given the application and how likely it is to be abused, it would work just fine.
 
#7 ·
Fred, why cringe when someone mentions soft maple as paint grade?

I used to use poplar for my painted projects but it's just too soft and prone to denting.
I now prefer soft maple for painted projects.

OP, use whichever of the two is cheaper.
 
#9 ·
I cringe because some of the nicest maple I've seen was soft maple….to me it's much better than being consider a "paint grade" or secondary wood. Truthfully, most of the hard maple I've seen was much more plain in color and grain….maybe it's a regional thing.
 
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