# What plywood to use inside cabinets



## Dan_SCW (Jul 24, 2018)

Hi Everyone,

I'm making new kitchen cabinets for myself. The face frames, doors, and exposed side panels will all be out of cherry.

I'm wondering what everyone uses for plywood inside the carcass that typically no one would ever see (especially on the lower cabinets). I'll probably stick with cherry veneered ply inside the uppers - but wondering if I should use shop-grade birch inside the lowers, or perhaps white laminated plywood, or just spend the extra $$$ and use cherry ply throughout?

Now for the shelves… do you typically use the same plywood for the shelves as you do for the carcass? Or should I use white laminated plywood for all shelves so they're easier to wipe down when dirty?

Thanks,
-Dan


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

If the lower cabinets are going to have drawers, there's not much reason to use anything fancy…but I would still use a good cabinet grade ply, probably maple or birch….but still a good grade of ply. But if the lowers will have doors with shelves inside, you might want to consider pre finished ply. The finish they apply is really tough, easy to clean, and saves you some headache finishing the inside. This is almost always a maple type appearance, so match the shelves to that. For the uppers, I would also use the prefinished. Typically, you want a lighter look on the inside to see better. Using cherry may make it a little too dark. One other thing if you choose to go with the cherry interiors…choose your finish carefully. Anything oil based will smell for months…or longer. Shellac or a waterborne finish would be best.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

+ 1


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## squazo (Nov 23, 2013)

pre finished birch, super easy.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> pre finished birch, super easy.
> 
> - squazo


+1


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

Around here it would be pre finished Maple. Just as easy and birch.

If you're short on room.

Make and finish the face frames doors and drawers first, then make the boxes. Use a separate to kick and save some plywood. This way won't have a bunch of cabinet boxes clutter up the shop while you make the mentioned parts.

Disclaimer, not saying it's the only way.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

I use glass for the inserts and shelves on the uppers. With automatic LED lighting it makes a great looking case.









Automatic LED lighting with glass inserts and shelves.

Lowers matter not for interior and shelving. Ask your cust or significant other what they want. You'ld be a fool not to!


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> pre finished birch, super easy.
> 
> - squazo


I once priced it out and it was almost the same price to buy prefinished birch ply and drawer sides as buying unfinished and then buying finish and consumables. For a hutch i built cost around $10 more but saved me probably 6 hours of work. Especially with the drawer sides pre cut, grooved, and bullnosed already


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Cherry ply wood be nice, but its very expensive.


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

You can contact your local cabinet supplier and ask what they have for a shop grade maple,etc. For cabinet interiors. If I want a clean interior I just use melamine…


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

All my interiors are "24/32" (fake 3/4") big box birch ply. At $30.00 a sheet, it's trumps particle, however called, and is FAR cheaper than other plys.

All my shelves are made from it too. I just add edge banding, which can also double as stiffeners for wider shelves, if you go to, say, 1-1/2" deep "banding." Of course, you could band the front and put the stiffners on the back.

Use a good, sharp blade with, say, 60 TPI for crisp cuts.

In all honesty, the last couple kitchen cabinet sets I did got oil based paint (cheap and solves the sticking problem) interiors. The difference between a tan interior and a while interiors is very notable.


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## ac0rn (Jan 31, 2020)

+1 for the Melamine. Easy to clean, no dark caves to find something.


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## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Spring a couple extra bucks a sheet for thermofused melamine as it has better wear and water resistance than cheap home center cold-rolled melamine. 
Your local hardwood supplier usually sources thermofused melamine. You can also choose your core material, including plywood cores.

Pre-finish plywood is nice, but probably overkill. IMHO


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## jonah (May 15, 2009)

Prefinished maple plywood all the way.

The finish is incredibly durable, and it's easy to work with. Trying to get finish into inside corners is a huge PITA that you don't need. Spend your time where it matters: on the doors and drawer fronts and slides and hinges, not on the insides.

Any good plywood supplier will have loads of the stuff


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

> Prefinished maple plywood all the way.
> 
> The finish is incredibly durable, and it s easy to work with. Trying to get finish into inside corners is a huge PITA that you don t need. Spend your time where it matters: on the doors and drawer fronts and slides and hinges, not on the insides.
> 
> ...


You don't spend anymore time spraying inside than you do the outside.I thought the ideal of making them yourself was to save money, not time..time is cheap….


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

*I thought the ideal of making them yourself was to save money, not time..time is cheap….*

Not necessarily. Over the year I build 4 kitchen for myself. I didn't do it to save money. Did it because I like building my own stuff the way I want using the materials and hardware I want. Many times home owner/DIY people aren't set up very well to spray in their shops. Most DIY/hobbyist/home owners can't apply a fininsh as durable as the pre finish stuff.

The OP didn't say anything about getting the cheapest plywood.

"I'm wondering what everyone uses for plywood inside the carcass that typically no one would ever see (especially on the lower cabinets). I'll probably stick with cherry veneered ply inside the uppers - but wondering if I should use shop-grade birch inside the lowers, or perhaps white laminated plywood, or just spend the extra $$$ and use cherry ply throughout?"


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

I use particle board interiors unless it's melamine.I usd shop grade plywood from a reputable cabinet supplier here in kansas city. Either Paxton lumber or Liberty hardwoods…

Here's out my book if it's useful to anyone.


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

Sadly after my post I called a lady in kansas city on the kansas side and let them know I didn't want to drive 40 miles to build and install 9 rollouts in 2 pantries. Good money but I don't want to drive that far anymore…


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Dan, have you reached any conclusions about how you want to proceed? I'm always curious what happens after posts like these.


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## jonah (May 15, 2009)

The durability of the prefinished plywood really has to be seen to be believed. It'll last forever inside a cabinet. It's the same finish they put on prefinished floors that last 20 years of people stomping all over them with dirty boots.


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

About cost-

the difference between crap sheet goods and a decent prefinished just is not worth going with junk unless your doing a ton of cabinets a year.

Say you use 20 sheets for a house. Save 20$ per sheet(which would be a lot) and you saved 400$.

Nothing compared to the time and money in the fronts.

I really like prefinished ply. If availability were not an issue, I'd use 5/8" for everything.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

> Sadly after my post I called a lady in kansas city on the kansas side and let them know I didn t want to drive 40 miles to build and install 9 rollouts in 2 pantries. Good money but I don t want to drive that far anymore…
> 
> - JackDuren


Relevance?


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## Dan_SCW (Jul 24, 2018)

Thanks everyone for all the comments and ideas.

Here's what I've decided -

My upper cabinets will be all cherry construction: face frame, doors, carcass, and shelves.

The lower doors/drawers, face frame, and exposed cabinet sides will all be out of cherry; as will all the pull-out shelves. But I realized that no one but me (or another woodworker) will ever look inside the lower cabinets… so, I've decided to use birch ply for the lower cabinet "innards", as this will save me $40 times 4 sheets of birch ply vs a buying 4 additional sheets of cherry ply that no one will ever see.



> Dan, have you reached any conclusions about how you want to proceed? I m always curious what happens after posts like these.
> 
> - Fred Hargis


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## xedos (Apr 25, 2020)

> I thought the ideal of making them yourself was to save money, not time..time is cheap….
> - JackDuren


Speak for yourself.

My time is the most valuable asset I have.


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