I'm building my first (and hopefully last) set of kitchen cabs. I have gone with shaker style, cherry face-framed cabs and have used pre-finished maple ply in construction of the boxes. I'm now ready to start making drawers.
The drawers will be constructed with half-blind dovetails and ride on Blum Tandem full-extension undermount slides.
I have read in various places that some people use maple and some hard maple for drawers. I know that hard maple is tougher and stronger than maple, but it is also heavier and more expensive. Is there a good reason to go with one versus the other?
Where do you get pre-finished maple ply for the carcases? Or did you finish it yourself before construction. Sounds like a pretty neat trick either way. I am getting ready to make cabinets for an office.
In case work, I always finished before assembly, including pre-made face-frames (I put those on with pocket screws) BIG bonus---> you get to dry the cabinet sides horizontally while drying. I don't know if the rest of the Clan agrees, but I always used 1/2" Baltic Birch. Two rabbets on each side, front and back in between and a groove along the bottom to take a 1/4" luan panel. ANNND, as I learned here... hold it together with glue till the brads dry.
I find that a slighty flimsyfied drawer adapts better to small imperfections in drawer alignment. (Like when you made a table too rigid, all four legs are never on the floor at the same time.) A somewhat lighter drawer is a bit more forgiving over the long haul.
1/2" Baltic Birch is WAY beyond any strength requirements, but anything thinner than that is too hard to handle. (The Mosquito Bomber called for a lot birch and spruce ply.) (Can you imagine sitting between 2 Merlin engines?? OFF with the hearing protection!...dangerously slipping off topic here) I have always disliked the use of integrated slide/drawer sides, like Blum's Metabox... just couldn't get used to the 'look'.... but ya'll know the drill: "What customer wants...yadda yadda.."
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Georgia Pacific and Columbia both sell prefinished maply ply. Here is a link to GPs site
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'm using Waterlox on the the cherry - face frame, door, panels, drawer fronts, etc. I opted for the prefinished ply because I thought the price (~$75 for a 4x8x 3/4 sheet) was justified. The carcasses need a tough and wipable surface and I don't have the equipment/space/time to put several coats of a tough finish on the carcass material.
I'm using 1/4" prefinished material for drawer bottoms and used 1/2" prefinished material for the backs of the uppers.
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