Cabinets

[jerald mcdonough]

Anyone have any experience building cabinets with 1/2" plywood, anything I should look out for? Jerry Mac

[Jay Boutwell]

Hi Jerald, Depending on what type of cabinets you are talking about.  I have used 1/2 " plywood as interior panels but it is not in my opinion strong enough to work as the main structure of a cabinet box.  Actually the use of it is not the best thing to do even as interior panels as they are simply too thin and that are flimsy enough that they flex too much to be what I would call a first class cabinet.  This is especially true if you are building kitchen type cabinets and or other cabinets that must support the weight of a counter top and sinks and other items that will definitely put a lot of stress on the cabinet.  The only thing that I would recommend the use of 1/2" plywood is for drawer boxes and other items within a cabinet that does not support weight or the racking and flexing of a cabinet box. 

The use of 2/4" material is not that much more expensive and is much better for the use of cabinet box building.  This is especially true during this day and time as the plywood is not the same quality as it was a few years ago.

[justin waldron]

Jay is right, go with 3/4 plywood, there's not much more money per sheet as opposed to the 1/2" ply.  You can make deeper dadoes if that's how you plan on doing the tops and bottoms, countersink screws etc.  In the end it's a much better product.