I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Thanx!


Vic--
There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
don't

Vic Baron wrote:
I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors.
[snipped for brevity]

Turns out that I am planing 120 bdft of poplar as we speak. Just walked
in for a bit of a break.
I like poplar for projects like that. If KD'd properly, it is very
stable. In machines beautifully, somehere between soft maple and hard
pine, and sands well. I have been a fan for decades... and it's cheap.
Certainly an excellent choice for rails and stiles and mullions....if
painted. The grain is not pretty and 'paint grade' can be brown..even a
kinda green/grey. Not to worry, none of that will bleed through a
decent sealer coat. I use up my leftovers as a sealer coat.. I thin it
15-20% and use it as a ****-coat. After a through drying, it should
sand very well and take the next coat well.

I can't think of a more dimensionally stable hardwood....doesn't mean
there aren't any species more stable.... but at $ 1.20 bdft?

HTH

r

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
t...
I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Thanx!


Poplar would be a good choice but not necessarily harder then SYP. It
paints and works very well.

In article ,
Leon wrote:

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
et...
I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Thanx!


Poplar would be a good choice but not necessarily harder then SYP. It
paints and works very well.



Poplar would be a very good choice IMHO. It is hard to beat for
painting, easy to work, and very stable. It is on the soft side
for a hardwood, but is stronger than pine (excepting maybe SYP)

--
Contentment makes poor men rich. Discontent makes rich men poor.
--Benjamin Franklin
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:33:27 GMT, "Vic Baron"
wrote:

I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

My suggestion would be birch. It's plenty tough, relatively
inexpensive, and routs nicely. The tight grain makes it easy to
paint, too. Poplar is as soft as pine, IIRC (though I don't use it
much.)

The popular will work fine for this, unless you are going to have kids
swinging on the doors sometime down the road. The birch is harder and a
tighter grain but here it costs a little more. You are going to be painting
these so if me I would use the popular and still shed a tear while covering
the grain of some pretty wood. Now to me any wood used inside a house is
tooooooo pretty to cover with paint. Just me. You read for yourself what the
American Hardwood Association has to say about each.

Poplar
Liriodendron tulipifera
Other Names: Yellow Poplar, Tulip Wood


Strength and mechanical properties

Yellow poplar trees grow taller than any other U.S. hardwood species and
they are members of the magnolia family. The bark, leaves, flowers, fruit
and roots contain pharmaceuticals. Poplar is the state tree of Indiana,
Kentucky and Tennessee.

Where it Grows
Widespread throughout Eastern U.S. Tree heights can reach 150 feet.

Main Uses
Light construction, furniture, kitchen cabinets, doors, musical instruments,
siding, paneling, mouldings and millwork, edge-glued panels, turnings and
carvings.

Relative Abundance
11.2 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.

Did You Know?
The poplar tree is rarely attacked by parasites.

General Description
The sapwood is creamy white and may be streaked, with the heartwood varying
from pale yellowish brown to olive green. The green color in the heartwood
will tend to darken on exposure to light and turn brown. The wood has a
medium to fine texture and is straight-grained; has a comparatively uniform
texture.

Working Properties
A versatile wood that is easy to machine, plane, turn, glue and bore. It
dries easily with minimal movement in performance and has little tendency to
split when nailed. It takes and holds paint, enamel and stain exceptionally
well.

Physical Properties
A medium density wood with low bending, shock resistance, stiffness and
compression values, with a medium steam-bending classification. Excellent
strength and stability.

Availability
Very widely available.



Birch
Betula alleghaniensis


Strength and mechanical properties

From sap to bark, birch trees are used to make everything from beer to
toothpicks. Native Americans stretched birch bark on their canoe frames and
used the wood for their arrows. The birch is New Hampshire's state tree. It
is also popular as an ornamental tree and has gained the nickname "Mother
Tree" because birches were planted at the White House to honor the mothers
of U.S. presidents. The oil extracted from the bark contains a chemical used
to treat rheumatism and inflammations.

Where it Grows
Eastern U.S., principally Northern and Lake states. The average tree is 60
to 70 feet in height. Birch prefers valleys and stream banks although it
adapts itself to higher grounds.

Main Uses
Furniture, millwork and paneling, doors, flooring, kitchen cabinets,
turnings and toys.

Relative Abundance
0.7 percent of total U.S. hardwoods commercially available.

Did You Know?
Native Americans often rolled and burned birch bark to keep mosquitoes away.

General Description
Yellow birch has a white sapwood and light reddish brown heartwood. The wood
is generally straight-grained with a fine uniform texture. Generally
characterized by a plain and often curly or wavy pattern.

Working Properties
The wood works fairly easily, glues well with care, takes stain extremely
well, and nails and screws satisfactorily where pre-boring is advised. It
dries rather slowly with little degrade, but it has moderately high
shrinkage, so is susceptible to movement in performance.

Physical Properties
The wood of yellow birch is heavy, hard and strong. It has very good bending
properties, with good crushing strength and shock resistance.

Availability
Reasonable availability, but more limited if selected for color.
web site: hardwoodinfo.com

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
t...
I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Thanx!


Vic--
There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
don't

In article , wrote:

Expect this stuff to have tearout, due to many grain reversals, and
the occasional knot.

That makes it unsuitable for cabinet doors, as it won't be nearly as stable as
straight-grained clear wood. I agree with the multitude advising the
use of poplar.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article , wrote:
On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:18:59 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

Expect this stuff to have tearout, due to many grain reversals, and
the occasional knot.

That makes it unsuitable for cabinet doors, as it won't be nearly as stable as
straight-grained clear wood. I agree with the multitude advising the
use of poplar.


There's plenty of sections that are straight and perfectly suitable
for many stiles and rails in the ugly stuff I bought. Cut AROUND the
junk. G

Not always possible -- but I agree that if you can cut around the junk, it'll
work fine.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:33:27 GMT, "Vic Baron"
wrote:

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Poplar is a good choice, it's not too hard but it's harder than your
other alternatives, it isn't very expensive and it's easy to work and
paint. I'd certainly avoid most pine and yes, if you were to paint
oak, most of us would string you up, but you can't really go too wrong
with poplar. Good call.

Brian Henderson wrote:
On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:33:27 GMT, "Vic Baron"
wrote:

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Poplar is a good choice, it's not too hard but it's harder than your
other alternatives, it isn't very expensive and it's easy to work and
paint. I'd certainly avoid most pine and yes, if you were to paint
oak, most of us would string you up, but you can't really go too wrong
with poplar. Good call.

I just finished a big wall-to-wall builtin book case all in poplar. A
coat of Minwax "colonial pine" completely eliminated the slight greenish
cast of the wood and it looks beautiful with a couple a coats of poly
varnish over the minwax.

David Starr

Thanx to all for the suggestions. Seems like poplar it shall be!

Vic


"Vic Baron" wrote in message
t...
I have to redo some kitchen cabinet doors. Currently they are painted 3/4
ply. I have to stay with painted finish but I'm going to do a frame and
glass style.

My thinking says that pine might be too soft, no way will I paint oak, so
what are my choices? I'm thinking that poplar might be a good choice but
have never used it before - all I know about it is that it is difficult to
stain. No experience routing it.

Living in Southern California am I correct in this choice?

Thanx!


Vic--
There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
don't

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
om...
Thanx to all for the suggestions. Seems like poplar it shall be!

Vic

It appears to be the popular choice.

"Vic Baron" wrote in
om:

Thanx to all for the suggestions. Seems like poplar it shall be!

Vic


Well, soft maple from Washington or Oregon isn't much more than poplar, in
the dealer's barn at Oakland, CA. It's harder, straighter, and easier to
machine than poplar from the next pile over. Worth looking into, but
highly dealer dependant.

Patriarch,
using hard white maple this week for the daughter-in-law's kitchen...

"efgh" wrote in news:Yn26h.7897$C94.1261@edtnps82:


"Vic Baron" wrote in message
om...
Thanx to all for the suggestions. Seems like poplar it shall be!

Vic

It appears to be the popular choice.



Don't you mean "It appears to be the poplar choice?"

Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm