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?

Wyatt wrote:
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 article .com,
wrote:

Wyatt wrote:
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.."

0¿0

Rob

Georgia Pacific and Columbia both sell prefinished maply ply. Here is
a link to GPs site
http://www.gp.com/build/productgroup...hy=pc&pid=1078

I'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.