Poplar Cabinets Durability

You can dent poplar with your fingernail.

Poplar cabinets durability. The most common modern day use for poplar is to make wood pallets storage and shipping crates and other utility items for which strength and durability are more important than appearance. Poplar is a wood species commonly used in a variety of woodworking projects. Heartwood is rated as being moderately durable to non durable. No shortcuts is our motto at estate millwork.

Poplar is better for painted cabinets. To say that maple and poplar are close in hardness toughness or durability is ridiculous. One question to ask on woodworking or home improvement projects is what species of wood to use. It s barely harder than pine.

On the wood hardness scale janka scale pine is 420 poplar is 540 and maple is 1450. Poplar is a hard wood but a soft hard wood. Quickly design your poplar flat panel cabinet doors. Ph 33 33 33 ph 40 60 ph 50 50 ph 60 40.

I did on my kitchen cabinets. Very easy to work in almost all regards one of poplar s only downsides is its softness. Soft maple mills a bit harder but easier to get a smooth painted finish. Poplar is the softest quot hardwood quot.

Blue ash has the highest janka rating at 2 030 with a specific gravity of 0 58. Cypress alder hemlock white pine basswood and poplar commonly used for paint grade cabinets but medium density fiberboard mdf is a much better choice since it is much harder about 1200 on the janka scale similar to oak versus 540 for poplar. Among maple birch poplar and ash sweet birch has the highest specific gravity at 0 65 with a janka measurement of 1 470. How you will finish the wood and the specific properties of the species.

We use poplar mostly. We refuse to sell any customer a set of cabinet doors made. Susceptible to insect attack. Sugar maple black maple sweet birch yellow birch and white.

Due to its low density poplar can sometimes leave fuzzy surfaces and edges. Especially during shaping or sanding. I would use soft maple if i could do it over. You can find poplar in many furniture projects toys and wood turnings because it is inexpensive fairly easy to work and takes nails screws and glue well it works best with paint as a finish but it can be successfully used to simulate finer woods provided the proper steps are taken in the finishing process.

On the other hand poplar is often favored for the structural components in cabinets such as drawers guides and struts because it s cheaper lighter and easier to work with. Red oak cabinets are more durable than poplar cabinets resisting dents and scratches better. Maple is harder than all oak varieties.