Hello to all,
I have started thinking about building some cabinets for my upstairs bedroom rather than purchasing furnature. In this way it’ll look like a custom built in piece. I live in southern RI and whated to know where I could find high quality hardwood and plywood. I figure that I’d go with birch and or maple.
I called a place earlier today to find that they had natural, white, and baltic birch. I have heard of yellow birch and even red, but I’m not sure which of this would be the best wood to start with.
Does anyone have any advice on the birch types and which are better to use? Same advice on the plywood for the case?
I figured I’d have to start somewhere, so here I am.
Thanks in advance KaiserRoo
Replies
If these cabinets are going to be painted, use poplar for the face frames. It's inexpensive and is far, far easier to work than beech, birch or maple.
If they're not going to be painted and you want wood with high figure, give Irion Lumber company a call. Their prices might at first seem high (about $10 - $15 b.f. for prime figure maple, depending on width), but not so pricey when compared to other mills for the same quality. I've seen maple with this kind of figure sold at $45/b.f. and up. They're in PA, so shipping should be relatively inexpensive.
If you're going to finish the cabinets with a dark dye stain, I'd recommend poplar again - it will show some figure through the dye, but will lose the greenish cast it sometimes has in the dyeing process.
FYI - If you want to go with inexpensive and don't have a planer/jointer that allows you to work rough 4/4 stock, one of the home centers my be your best bet. Home Despot was selling 1X12" Eastern White Pine in my area (NC) last week at about $1.50/b.f.
What style ?
Inset doors, full overlay, part overlay? all will effect what you need. Color? Stained or clear finish?
KaiseRoo,
There are lots of options, kinda depends where you want to start.
Plywood wise, these guys have quite a selection...lousy facilities, nice variety http://www.boulterplywood.com they are about 2 miles north of Boston just off 93.
Then there is Anderson McQuaid in Cambridge that can provide rough to s4s in any size of wood. They specialize in moldings.
If you wanted to save money and have the time, I'd head up to Maine and have someone cut up a tree or two. Obviously that is the cheapest out of pocket wise.
Many of us go up to Highland Hardwoods in NH on Rt. 125 for a good selection at a good price..rough or s4s
I'll bet there are a few sawyers just north of you to.
Thanks for all the information.
I go up to New Hampshire now and again so I'll have to check out the place on 125 if I can't find anything around here.
The style that I envision is that of traditional the face frame with a partial overlap. I'm not sure if the face of the drawers will be a solid slab with a nice profile or a raide panel type. The bed room has yellow birch flooring with a natural stain. So I'm figuring that the maple or birch with the same natural stain would be the place to begin. As for having too much of the same color, well that will be up to my wife to decide. I also figured I'd go with something other than wood for the top, like a stone again depends on the misses. I'm hoping to add color via knobs or pulls.
Thanks for the info, and please keep it coming
KaiserRoo
For the most part only the front would be exposed as this will be placed under the sloped part of a gambrel roof.
Check out http://www.woodfinder.com and enter your ZIP and the kind of wood you are looking for. I'll be you find quite a few small retailers in RI or eastern CT that would provide what you need.
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