Materials For Cabinets / Wardrobe

[h4happy 1]

Hi Everybody

I have been very confuse especially when looking ar the items (for wardrobe and kitchen cabinets).

Please advise me which materials is a better option.

This is what I get from:

1) Wardrobe: Solid Plywood Laminate c/w abs trimming.

2) Wardrobe: cw laminated finish.

3) Wardrobe: designer laminated cw internal matches polykem

4) Wardrobe: with intrenal finish

1) Kitchen Cabinet: In laminate/veneer finishes .

2) Kitchen Cabinet: Using laminate with abs triming.

3) Kitchen Cabinet: cw laminate.

4) Kitchen Cabinet: cw laminate with internal matches polykem. (External: laminated, internal: pvc finish)

Only 1 stated solid plywood laminiate cw abs trimming.

The rest never stated the wood materials.

So, plse advise what should I ask and look for??

Which wood materials is good for cabinet and wardrobe?

Also, is it 18mm thick for the materials?

What is veneer finish compare to abs finish?

What is polykem?

What is laminate? Can I say it is the surface? Where we can choose the colour we want?

Thanks!

HAPPY

Edited September 10, 2007 by h4happy

[h4happy 1]

But nowadays, it seem like contractors/id just stated cabinet / wardrobe with laminated finished with abs trimming. Never stated what materials they use.

Afraid they might give a poor quality wood especially for kitchen cabinet,

Especially we put plates, cups, etc...that is heavy.

And I might not be able to know whether it is good quality by feeling it or knocking it.

That is the reason why I begin to ask around.

Plse advise thru' your experiences.

[applefreak 1]

Which wood materials is good for cabinet and wardrobe?

Also, is it 18mm thick for the materials?

What is veneer finish compare to abs finish?

What is polykem?

What is laminate? Can I say it is the surface? Where we can choose the colour we want?

Thanks!

HAPPY

can only share my view on the topic coz even up till now i'm still a little blur

for cabinet and wardrobe, solid ply is good enough

as we dun really put heavy things in them

important thing to note is the length of the shelf

the longer it is, the less weight it can support

so if you are looking to put heavy things, better to have shorter shelves i.e. shorter distance between vertical support

think 18mm is quite standard bah

at least that's what my carpenter used so i have no idea if others are using something different

there's a thread on veneer vs ABS

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...8&hl=veneer

laminate is actually a piece of skin that is glued onto the wood to make the end product look nice

basically anything you see that is not wood grain pattern is laminate liao

hope i dun confuse you further

and waiting for the more knowledgeable to share

[h4happy 1]

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...mp;#entry217861

[bullet 0]

But nowadays, it seem like contractors/id just stated cabinet / wardrobe with laminated finished with abs trimming. Never stated what materials they use.

Afraid they might give a poor quality wood especially for kitchen cabinet,

Especially we put plates, cups, etc...that is heavy.

And I might not be able to know whether it is good quality by feeling it or knocking it.

That is the reason why I begin to ask around.

Plse advise thru' your experiences.

Strength of a cabinet is not only depending on the material itself but far more important is the method the contractor engaged for the joints. Certainly, solid ply will definately have better strength than hollow. Locally, most carpenter rather use solid ply for the matter not so much on saving material but more to saving cost on labour. It is easiler and faster to cut a solid ply and nailing them to form a cabinet. Hollow construction is only practise in those 70s days and for those countries where labour cost are cheaper than material. So I don't think there so much worry on the construction generally.

As to material wise, also dependent on what and where they are constructing. Comparing between plywood and boardboard which seems to be similar to most layman but the usage is very different. Plywood have the tenancy to crack when nailing at the thickness portion esp near the edge, whereas, boardboard do not give good grip to screw. Some carpentry take trouble used both material to construct a cabinet because of their different characteristic. In general, boardboard are best use to construct solid door becuase it is much lighter and very straight by nature unlike plywood which often warpped. But plywood give better strength to vertical construction in general