# kitchen cabinet grade and thickness



## learning_rocks

Morning Fellows !

I am quite new to wood working and planning to build our kitchen cabinets. Plan is the make frameless ones with birch ply (Using pocket holes and glue). Was looking around and saw BB grade 18mm in Travis Perkins for £45. To start off just wanted to know if my selection of Birch ply (grade and thickness) is the right one. Also wanted to know if the price is fair one.

Thanks in advance


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## mbartlett99

Welcome, first of all.

Its not the worlds most difficult project although its not the most interesting either - I'm just on the tail end of making my own and finding it pretty tedious (sanding, sanding and more sanding),

18mm is spot on. Some commercial units use 16mm but thats the cheap seats.

BB might be a bit hit/miss regarding surface defects. Depends on the quality of finish you're looking for. If its going to be painted you should be ok (allow for some wastage) but if its going to have a clear finish you'll probably end of up dodging around some unslightly knots etc. If you can go and see it in the flesh.

FYI - go on www.cutwrights.co.uk whee they have a great nesting programme; put in all your measurements into a quote, wait a few minutes and then when it comes through you can print off the sheets which will show you the most efficient layout for cutting. I used these guys to spply the vmdf for my kitchen.

You'll need a lot of space to layout all this stuff - I'm tripping up over panels everywhere. Good luck.


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## ScaredyCat

learning_rocks":112k887v said:


> Was looking around and saw BB grade 18mm in Travis Perkins for £45. To start off just wanted to know if my selection of Birch ply (grade and thickness) is the right one. Also wanted to know if the price is fair one.



What size sheets are these? I can only see it on the TP site as "Birch Plywood BB Grade 2440mm x 1220mm x 18mm" with a cost of £132.46

If I can get it at £45 from TP I'd jump on them as it'd save me a 2 hour trip.




.


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## Obi Wan Kenobi

learning_rocks":238we2b8 said:


> Was looking around and saw BB grade 18mm in Travis Perkins for £45.
> 
> Thanks in advance



My office is next door to TP and we have an account there, so if it's that price I'm gonna shoot next door and get a few sheets .......... :shock: 

OWK ccasion5:


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## custard

learning_rocks":1sjsx42l said:


> I am quite new to wood working and planning to build our kitchen cabinets.



Lots of people arrive on this forum planning to build kitchens, boats, rocking horses, you name it. Very few of them ever make it across the finishing line. 

Before sinking a lot of money into materials, take some time and reflect if you've got the necessary to actually get this through to completion. Reading between the lines of your post the omens aren't good.


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## Selwyn

Yes buy the cabinets elsewhere from mfc and make your own doors


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## learning_rocks

custard":27j1tq6v said:


> learning_rocks":27j1tq6v said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am quite new to wood working and planning to build our kitchen cabinets.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lots of people arrive on this forum planning to build kitchens, boats, rocking horses, you name it. Very few of them ever make it across the finishing line.
> 
> Before sinking a lot of money into materials, take some time and reflect if you've got the necessary to actually get this through to completion. Reading between the lines of your post the omens aren't good.
Click to expand...


Too late for me to turn back. Bought most of the tools necessary to do this, also not much monies left to shop around (In the final process of renovating a 60 year old house, there were lot of curve balls)

Also the plan is to start building a kitchenette first and then do the kitchen to get a feel and know the pitfalls. Wish me luck


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## learning_rocks

mbartlett99":1yy0fd56 said:


> Welcome, first of all.
> ...
> You'll need a lot of space to layout all this stuff - I'm tripping up over panels everywhere. Good luck.



Thanks for the prompt reply and really sorry for delay on my part. I was looking for any responses on the post from the profile page that just shows my post and not any comments, and I thought I was alone in this world  Thanks a ton for your input. BB is the grade that I saw in TP, The idea is to sand it smooth and paint it over.


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## custard

learning_rocks":ay0muv8p said:


> custard":ay0muv8p said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> learning_rocks":ay0muv8p said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am quite new to wood working and planning to build our kitchen cabinets.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lots of people arrive on this forum planning to build kitchens, boats, rocking horses, you name it. Very few of them ever make it across the finishing line.
> 
> Before sinking a lot of money into materials, take some time and reflect if you've got the necessary to actually get this through to completion. Reading between the lines of your post the omens aren't good.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Too late for me to turn back.
Click to expand...


Well, if you're in, then I guess you're in!

A good place to start is familiarising yourself with the plywood grading system,

http://www.timbmet.com/uk/products/rang ... h-plywood/

For a clean painted surface you need either B/BB or S/BB grade ply. S/BB is the same actual grade as B/BB but it's pre sanded. The B or S face goes on the outside, and the BB face goes on the inside. Plus of course you'll likely be using more MDF than ply, so you'll want to think about how to paint MDF sawn edges without it looking all wooly.

Depending on your equipment you might want to hunt around and find a supplier that will supply ready cut to your cutting list, it's obviously more expensive, but they'll maximise the yield from each sheet and do a far more accurate job than can be achieved with typical hobbyist equipment.

Good luck!


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## learning_rocks

custard":2gl34f49 said:


> learning_rocks":2gl34f49 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well, if you're in, then I guess you're in!
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Can't I sand BB/BB to a smooth finish for painting?

Our plan is to buy BB/BB (The one I saw in TP just says "Birch Plywood BB Grade 2440mm x 1220mm x 18mm", guessing it's BB on both faces. Make cabinets out of them, do edge banding (Might use real wood strip cut out using my table saw, worst case a edge veneer banding) , then sand and paint over to make it smooth. Doors front panels would be white gloss veneered, and planning to buy drawer from Ney (We are looking for drawers with glass side panel). Plans plans plans, hoping we could execute everything to perfection. (homer)


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## learning_rocks

ScaredyCat":3pliqcms said:


> learning_rocks":3pliqcms said:
> 
> 
> 
> Was looking around and saw BB grade 18mm in Travis Perkins for £45. To start off just wanted to know if my selection of Birch ply (grade and thickness) is the right one. Also wanted to know if the price is fair one.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What size sheets are these?
Click to expand...


Birch Plywood BB Grade 2440mm x 1220mm, and 18mm thickness is the what TP says, could be local to Cambridge, I guess


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## custard

learning_rocks":3t6axsra said:


> Can't I sand BB/BB to a smooth finish for painting?



Yes you can, but read through the link I posted on plywood grades and you'll see there are other differences besides sanding between "S", "B", and "BB" grades of ply. BB grade has plugs, that's where a knot or other defect has been chopped out and replaced with a little rugby ball shaped patch. These patches can telegraph through paint. 

Is that a problem? Well only you can answer that, it's your project so you set the quality standards. 

When I made my kitchen I used more Moisture Resistant MDF than ply to get smoother finishing surfaces, but where I did use ply if it was visible then it was B/BB.











However, if you're using pocket screws I can understand why you might prefer ply rather than MDF, screws never fasten as securely in MDF as they do in ply.


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## learning_rocks

custard":3r3afgat said:


> learning_rocks":3r3afgat said:
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> 
> never fasten as securely in MDF as they do in ply.
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> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Yeah using pocket screws to secure the edges, also building a frameless one (full acecss) one. It's a kitchenette and trying to use every mm possible.

I could use MDF for door front plates and BB / BB grade ply for the rest of the cabinets. Do you have any suggestions of shops to buy B / BB grade ply from?

Oh BTW, nice clean work, great kitchen


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## sammy.se

custard":1gy70gqb said:


> learning_rocks":1gy70gqb said:
> 
> 
> 
> Can't I sand BB/BB to a smooth finish for painting?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes you can, but read through the link I posted on plywood grades and you'll see there are other differences besides sanding between "S", "B", and "BB" grades of ply. BB grade has plugs, that's where a knot or other defect has been chopped out and replaced with a little rugby ball shaped patch. These patches can telegraph through paint.
> 
> Is that a problem? Well only you can answer that, it's your project so you set the quality standards.
> 
> When I made my kitchen I used more Moisture Resistant MDF than ply to get smoother finishing surfaces, but where I did use ply if it was visible then it was B/BB.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, if you're using pocket screws I can understand why you might prefer ply rather than MDF, screws never fasten as securely in MDF as they do in ply.
Click to expand...

Hiya custard

Is there a thread for your kitchen build, or some higher resolution photos?

Looks ace. Love the colour and warmth of the wood worktop against the cabinets.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk


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