"Alexander Galkin" wrote in message
...
I decided to build kitchen cabinets case from 3/4" hard maple plywood. I
called several places and only one carries A-1 grade maple plywood. Others
only B-1 grade and they tried to convince me it is perfectly suitable for
furniture making. What grade do I really need? What other characteristics
(i.e. number of plies and face veneer thickness) do I need to consider
beyond grade? 3/4" plywood will be used for case side, bottom and top,
1/2"
or 1/4" will be used for back. I will also probably use 1/2" or 3/4"
plywood
for drawer bottoms, all drawer sides will be solid maple. Also can anyone
point me where I can buy inexpensively hard maple plywood?

First thing I would tell you is that, IMHO, 3/4" is overkill for the cabinet
carcases, and 1/2" is definitely overkill for the drawer bottoms. I built
some cabinets recently with 1/2" for the whole cabinet and it worked out
fine. One benefit (if you put the cabinet together with dadoes) is that you
only have one setup for cutting the dadoes. That is, as long as the plywood
is a consistent thickness. On the cabinets I made, I bought 1/2" meranti
plywood from my local hardwood dealer. My only complaint about it was that
the sheets varied in thickness, and I don't mean by a little bit. We're
planning a new kitchen right now, and I'm angling to build those cabinets
myself. (I don't think SWMBO is quite on board just yet). If I build them,
I'll be sure to make sure they are of a reasonably-consistent thickness.
One other suggestion...go with about 1/2" on the drawer sides. Without
thinking, I went with 3/4" on my shop cabinets, and they just don't look
right.

todd