Downside to lengthy projects

[Schleeper]

When I started my kitchen cabinet project back in the spring, we decided on hard maple because LOML wanted to stay away from what we have now (oak,) but she also didn't want to go too dark (which was fine by me, because I didn't want to pay for cherry.)

I need to buy the lumber for the ff's soon, so I picked up several different colors of stain, and using blocks of maple that I'd planed and sanded, we tried out a number of different finishes. Lo and behold, the consensus pick is pretty dark - two coats of Bartley jet mahogany over one coat of their georgian cherry (or perhaps just 2-3 coats of jet mahogany.) Go figure!

Now I'm thinking, why bother using hard maple if I'm just going to cover it with dark stain? My first thought was to switch to birch, but why not cherry? It's already darker, and it's reputedly easier to work with. As for the cost issue, I'll likely be buying my hardwood from Hearne Hardwoods in Oxford PA, where the cost differential is only 50 cents/bf. ($5.00 vs. $4.50.)

Problem is, I already have three wall cab carcasses constructed that have exposed end panels made from maple ply. However, I was already regretting having not made raised panel ends for them. I was thinking of constructing new end panels, and attaching them over the existing plywood ones before the face frames go on. (The 2" wide stile would be more than wide enough to cover the edges of the double side panels.) If I change lumber, I can just make them out of cherry instead of maple. Any problems with that?

One more "If only I'd thought of that"... I wish I had built the cabinet above the microwave deeper than 12", to make it flush with the front of the oven. I suppose I could just bump it out when I install it, and cover the exposed portions of the end panels with more plywood, and cherry veneer. Any other ideas?

I better get back to work. The longer it takes, the more changes I'm going to have to make!

[gsmittle]

What's happening is feature creep. The longer this takes, the more "features" get added to the project. LOML is a master of the phenomenon.

Ship me the maple and/or cherry and go work on something else. It's the only known remedy.

g.

[Wood_workur]

Leave the maple natural?

I'd go with the double wide exposed sides. Then you don't have to worry about strength issues either (not that you'd have to anyways)

[JimD]

Grain is similar between maple and cherry. Hard maple is more durable - harder to dent, however. I have not noticed much difference in working with it. I do nearly everthing with power tools, with hand tools, hard maple may be tougher due to the hardness.

I think it will be difficult to get a color match but you could buy some cherry and try.

Jim

[JR]

In my limited experience maple is much easier to work with than cherry. Cherry burns very easily, resulting in a lot of cleanup work prior to finishing.

I'd also think that cherry is lest costly only if you're buying B grade. There's normally a lot of sapwood in cherry. If you don't mind the look, it will be cheaper. If you want clear cherry it will end up being fairly expensive.

JR

[drumpriest]

JR isn't wrong, Cherry does burn fairly easily, though I've managed to do quite a lot with it without major issues. If you have sharp blades, and use a good feedrate, you should be ok. Certainly Cherry tends to be more expensive than maple.

[cabinetman]

One more "If only I'd thought of that"... I wish I had built the cabinet above the microwave deeper than 12", to make it flush with the front of the oven. I suppose I could just bump it out when I install it, and cover the exposed portions of the end panels with more plywood, and cherry veneer.

I don't get what you're talking about. Is this a wall oven?

You could go with frameless cabinets and save yourself some work, and you may not need to add a FF just to cover an add on end panel. The edge of a full overlay door can end where the panel starts.

Think about this: If the add on panel has a profiled edge, a FF won't cover it. The configuration of where the edge of the door is would be the same as if frameless...the edge of the carcass. If you are planning full inset (flush) doors, this wouldn't apply.

Here, Cherry either in plywood or hardwood costs appreciably more than Maple.
.

[Schleeper]

I don't get what you're talking about. Is this a wall oven?

You could go with frameless cabinets and save yourself some work, and you may not need to add a FF just to cover an add on end panel. The edge of a full overlay door can end where the panel starts.

Think about this: If the add on panel has a profiled edge, a FF won't cover it. The configuration of where the edge of the door is would be the same as if frameless...the edge of the carcass. If you are planning full inset (flush) doors, this wouldn't apply.

Here, Cherry either in plywood or hardwood costs appreciably more than Maple.
.

Sorry - my description wasn't very clear. The oven I'm talking about is the microwave oven/range hood over the range. There's a 30" wide cabinet above it, and currently, the microwave sticks out a couple of inches beyond the cabinet. I've seen pictures of kitchens in which that cabinet is imstalled flush with the front of the microwave, and it looks very sharp.

These are the same cabinets that I posted pictures of earlier, with the carcasses constructed of prefinished maple ply. I'm committed to the face frame design, with overlay (or partial overlay) doors.

Here's the price list for the lumber place I'm talking about:

http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/hardw...pricelist.html

A lot of the cherry lumber that's used comes from Pennsylvania (where Hearne is located,) which may explain the decent pricing.

I'm also going to throw some stain on a piece of soft maple I have, to see if that might be a reasonable alternative.

[cabinetman]

Sorry - my description wasn't very clear. The oven I'm talking about is the microwave oven/range hood over the range. There's a 30" wide cabinet above it, and currently, the microwave sticks out a couple of inches beyond the cabinet. I've seen pictures of kitchens in which that cabinet is imstalled flush with the front of the microwave, and it looks very sharp.

If you plan to move the cabinets out flush with the microwave, you'll have to do some magic to the rear to mount to the wall.
.

[JR]

I'd lean to the maple unless you just have to have the cherry.

My 2c.



Cherry4/4FAS4" to 8 1/2"8' to 16'$5.00

Maple (Hard)4/4FAS4" to 8 1/2"8' to 12'$4.50

[Schleeper]

I'd lean to the maple unless you just have to have the cherry.

My 2c.



Cherry4/4FAS4" to 8 1/2"8' to 16'$5.00

Maple (Hard)4/4FAS4" to 8 1/2"8' to 12'$4.50

That's just it - we've been thinking maple all along. I'm just starting to second guess myself. It doesn't appear that cost should be much of a factor. though. Unless my calculations are flawed, I'm looking at maybe an extra $200 if I decide to use cherry.

[Schleeper]

If you plan to move the cabinets out flush with the microwave, you'll have to do some magic to the rear to mount to the wall.
.

I'm only talking about one cabinet - the one above the microwave. No magic required; just a couple of pieces of wood for spacers. As a matter of fact, I'm already planning to do the same thing for the cabinet over the refrigerator. AND the space created behind the microwave may be sufficient to run duct for venting the range hood outside.

The "magic" that will have to be performed, will be in dressing up the couple of inches of side panels that will now be exposed.

[drumpriest]

From a design standpoint my only suggestion would be to consider the room, the size, and what wood will work best. We are doing our cabinets right now as well, and went with hard maple. Three main reasons....

1. It is in vogue at the moment, and we plan to sell our house within the next couple of years.

2. It's a light tone wood for a natural finish, and takes top coats VERY nicely, and the room is fairly small. A galley kitchen integrated into a pretty big great room.

3. Hard maple is one tough wood, and we have a rug rat.