# Best wood for painted kitchen cabinets



## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

My nephew is remodeling his kitchen. They wanted to have painted cabinets. We are considering building to help reduce costs. (They have some custom sizes in mind). I have made plenty of face frame cabinets but I have never built for a painted finish.

What is a good wood to use for a painted finish. I'm thinking poplar or pine. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

BJ


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Poplar works very well, so does maple and it's usually not that much more expensive. I've never tried pine and probably never will (clear pine is very expensive around here). I'll also suggest pre finished plywood for the carcase, really saves a lot of work not having to finish the interior of the boxes.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

+1 on the prefinished (1-side for interior) boxes, and I agree on the maple, it's more durable than poplar. If you have time to wait for a deal to show up, rough cut soft maple can be had on craigslist for $1-2 per board foot. I would save the poplar for drawer boxes and interior pieces that won't be seen/touched.


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## TheWoodenOyster (Feb 6, 2013)

Poplar and Maple are both good choices. Maple will be much harder, so keep that it mind.

Ditto Fred on the prefinished plywood.


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## ChrisK (Dec 18, 2009)

My neighbor does very high end cabinets that are painted 80% of the time and he uses Maple with the melamine plywood for the insides. He also pocket hole joins the sides and bottoms together, no dado's. I still prefer dado's to help align the parts and I think they are stronger.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

I wouldn't use poplar. I'm not a fan of it at all with how soft it is. Dents very easily. Use maple.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Maple. Use Varsity maple ply for the carcass.


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## CarolinaWoodworks (Sep 14, 2014)

We normally used poplar in Dad's cabinet shop and always had good results with it.


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## ADHDan (Aug 17, 2012)

I built my painted built-in cabinets with basic BORG maple plywood and birch face frames (because birch happened to be on sale at the lumberyard), finished with an airless sprayer. I used poplar for some of the trim in places where it's not likely to dent - e.g. the mantle shelf frame pieces. I thought it turned out pretty good; pics in my project gallery.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

I am sorry about the above post. I meant to say Varsity Birch plywood. We get it in my local lumber yard at a decent price. It is finish sanded and paints well. It has more plies than the AC fir and doesn't show grain through your paint. It is similar but not the same as Baltic Birch.


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## timbertailor (Jul 2, 2014)

Birch Plywood.

Very stable over time and less likely to warp in humid conditions.

Maple for the face frames. Durable.

Maple for the doors if you are not on a budget. Maybe just the rails and stiles in Maple and use poplar for the door panels to save some money.

Like you said, it is going to get painted. I just use box clamps and glue to assemble.


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## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

I'll echo Fred and some of the others.

Get the PREFINISHED PLY for the carcases. The finish is very durable, and you won't smell your shelves for months, or have canned goods stick to them.
But Avoid menards tigerply.

remember this is likely a one time shot, you cannot go back and fix this, and want cabinet boxes to last for decades, not months.

For the face frames, poplar is the way to go for painted frames.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

If you intend to make panels in the doors, consider MDF for the panels. It machines well (except for the dust), takes paint well and you don't need to worry about movement. Also, it costs less than maple or poplar.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I used poplar to build these face frames for my mom's cabinets. Note: MDF for the drawer front panels.









And these cabinets for our buffet









And these cabinets for my brother in law's kitchen and doors and drawer fronts. Plus birch ply for the carcases.


















Prefinished Birch for the inside of the buffet and our kitchen cabinets. 


















Hope this helps.
Mike


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## DaleM (Feb 18, 2009)

Plus one for maple rather than poplar when painting. Poplar grain raises bad when using a water based finish such as latex primer so it requires a lot more sanding between coats. Don't use pine unless you are going to use Zinsser BIN primer which contains shellac or even the smallest of knots will eventually bleed through the paint. If you do find a deal too good to pass up on poplar, you could seal it first, then sand and prime and the grain won't raise. Paint looks great over sanding sealer on poplar, but if don't sand the sealer very well and blow/wipe off all the dust, then the primer won't stick well.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice,

I'm reluctant to use pine because I've had some problems in the past with the face frames distorting while clamped. Sounds like poplar may have similar problems. Maple sounds best. I'll discuss it with my nephew and his wife and see what they think. I'm happy to help them save money but I don't want to do it on the cheap.

BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

Mike,
Nice cabinets. Thanks for the input and the pics.

BJ


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

Paint grade Maple.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

> Thanks for all the advice,
> 
> I m reluctant to use pine because I ve had some problems in the past with the face frames distorting while clamped. Sounds like poplar may have similar problems. Maple sounds best. I ll discuss it with my nephew and his wife and see what they think. I m happy to help them save money but I don t want to do it on the cheap.
> 
> ...


Poplar doesn't have any of those problems in my experience, and it's perfectly fine for face frames. But I find maple easier to get to a perfectly smooth surface and it does resist dents a little better. Soft maple would be fine for this, though around me the soft maple is usually the better looking stuff (color, curly, etc.). For the record, soft maple isn't really that soft, it's very close to cherry in hardness according to the Janka scale.


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## ScottKaye (Jan 19, 2013)

nice spam *johnfort*.. reported. just like the other thread.


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