My crystal ball told me that I would be building new cabinets for my kitchen in the future. It is a remote project at this time - I shall probably plan actual replacement for next summer, spend the winter detailing plans and making whatever I can in advance. But I am beginning to plan for it and here comes the first question.
My wife does not want natural maple or oak colors. She likes either dark stain or natural cherry. So I shall need to use regular maple and stain or splurge for real cherry. We are thinking of flat panel doors. In the past I had made shaker style doors with 1/4" thick plywood inserts but those doors were painted. I found sources that say that staining door with plywood insert will be a royal pain because hard wood and plywood take stain differently. Does anybody have experience? I went to HomeDepot/Kitchen expo store nearby to look how they do it. I did notice that Kraftmaid and other cabinet suppliers don't make stained plywood inserts. They do it in a particularly odd (I want to say weird) way. They make inserts out of 1/2" thick solid wood panel, then cut a raised panel on it and insert the panel turning raised profile inside the cabinet. Raised panel door turned inside looks really odd - makes you scratch your head. I found some professional discussions on the web where people said that this method fairly common for standard cabinets but unacceptable for custom-made cabinetry. People who pay for custom-made cabinets expect better workmanship and often refuse delivery when cabinets arrive with raised panel door panels inside cabinets. The most acceptable solution seems to be 1/2" solid wood panel with undercutter type profile on a back.
I appreciate the technical difficulties here. I understand that making 1/4" thick real wood panel is a bad idea because panel is too thin and unstable but somehow this solution still seems strange. What do people here think?
Is it a practical solution to use real cherry frame with cherry ply and leave it natural? Is the problem of staining plywood panel serious? What is the best way of making solid wood flat panel insert?
My wife does not want natural maple or oak colors. She likes either dark stain or natural cherry. So I shall need to use regular maple and stain or splurge for real cherry. We are thinking of flat panel doors. In the past I had made shaker style doors with 1/4" thick plywood inserts but those doors were painted. I found sources that say that staining door with plywood insert will be a royal pain because hard wood and plywood take stain differently. Does anybody have experience? I went to HomeDepot/Kitchen expo store nearby to look how they do it. I did notice that Kraftmaid and other cabinet suppliers don't make stained plywood inserts. They do it in a particularly odd (I want to say weird) way. They make inserts out of 1/2" thick solid wood panel, then cut a raised panel on it and insert the panel turning raised profile inside the cabinet. Raised panel door turned inside looks really odd - makes you scratch your head. I found some professional discussions on the web where people said that this method fairly common for standard cabinets but unacceptable for custom-made cabinetry. People who pay for custom-made cabinets expect better workmanship and often refuse delivery when cabinets arrive with raised panel door panels inside cabinets. The most acceptable solution seems to be 1/2" solid wood panel with undercutter type profile on a back.
I appreciate the technical difficulties here. I understand that making 1/4" thick real wood panel is a bad idea because panel is too thin and unstable but somehow this solution still seems strange. What do people here think?
Is it a practical solution to use real cherry frame with cherry ply and leave it natural? Is the problem of staining plywood panel serious? What is the best way of making solid wood flat panel insert?
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