# Hard or soft maple for kitchen cabinet face frames?



## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

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….


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

I think either would be fine. Soft maple is still pretty hard if that's your concern.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

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.


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

Should work fine, still a pretty tough wood. Given the application and how likely it is to be abused, it would work just fine.


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## cabmaker (Sep 16, 2010)

I use lots and lots of soft maple on cabinets .


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I used poplar for the face frames, doors and drawer fronts on the cabinets I built to form the buffet.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/93006


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## NiteWalker (May 7, 2011)

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.


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## noone (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks. As long as soft maple is "hard", I'm good with that. The poplar I have used on all my built ins thus far is just too soft. Any bump against a shelf easily dents it. I'm ready for a more durable wood. Soft maple is cheaper than hard maple around here.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

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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