kitchen cupboards - what to make them out of

[sandstonehouse]

Hi all
We are going to start making our kitchen cupboards soon. Is there anything we can use besides particleboard, plywood or melamine? We are keen to avoid the glue smells and the formaldhyde and other nasty chemicals. I am not talking about the doors but the cubboards and shelving themselves.

Not wanting to pay a fortune either....
Thanks
Sandstonehouse

[Sybarite]

Besides solid timer, which will definietely hurt your walllet, I can only think of MDF.

You can get moisture resistant MDF that is suitable for carcase construction (MRMDF) -although this will be more expensive and heavier than HMR particle board.

An HMR particle board that meets the Australian standards for formaldehyde content shouldn't smell too strongly for very long though.

If you use a panel based carcase design you should be able to screw all of the assemblies together, obviating the need for any glueing.

If you don't want to use a melamine coated board then you will have to seal all of your carcasses with something like Polyurethane.

Good luck with your project.

Cheers,

[renomart]

What about plywood?

[Master Splinter]

You could use that stuff that some of the real cheap imported kitchen/bathroom cupboards are made out of.

Big sheets of Wheatbix is what I recon they are using. Looks like wheatbix, about as strong as wheatbix, goes soggy when wet just like wheatbix, but I haven't tried it with milk yet.

[echnidna]

There really isn't anthing practical other than chipboard or mdf.

The melamine finish is inert and probably has lower emissions than conventional paints and finishes and even the natural resins in timbers

Coz you could go real old fashioned and make them out of a suitable timber such as Kauri etc But solid timber will be way more exxy than the modern materials.

I suppose you might be able to fabricate then from thick HDPE but the cost would be over the moon.

Or you could fabricate everything from stainless steel.

THERE IS NO CHEAP WAY OUT !!!

[toddles]

Hi Sandstone,
I think I should expand on something echnida touched on. In the olden days kitchen cabinets were made out of timber frames clad with timber panels. My very first kitchen reno was ripping out 60% and then rebuilding and extending a 60s kitchen built with timber frames. My budget for the job covered the dowels, hinges, a bit of stain and a the occasional end of day coldie and bugger all else. I used recycled timber (read scavenged from any and every place - street side collection furniture, and old wardrobes etc), a hand saw and old B&D drill. It took a little while as it was my first major project. Through this I developed a fondness for the old school way though I've always used melamine carcasses since because of 1) the speed 2) the flexibility 3) The more modern style of the kitchens we were aiming for.

By using finger jointed pine (it's cheaper yet just as good quality as regular pine) and dowel joinery to build the carcass frame you should be able to build a reasonable sized kitchen for an amount that is within reach of a similar flat pack style construction. You should note though that your kitchen will have an older style appearance - perhaps this is something you would prefer though. Heaven knows people pay extra to have a melamine kitchen look unconvincingly "country style". Save the expense of nice wood for the visible bits though, or paint the whole thing and use pine throughout.

For the doors and exposed sides of the cupboards I recommend the appearance of frame and panel construction. Wikipedia, and of course a search on this site, will reveal a good explanation of this method if you're not familiar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_and_panel). Using tongue and groove boards as the panels will give a lovely authentic rustic/country feel. You can use thin ply for the panels for a mid-century look and clad the outside of the frames for a more modern appearance.

For an alternative to laminate bench tops consider making a wooden frame topped with a panel and tiling it.

All of this can be glued with waterbased wood glues or traditional hide glues to avoid any toxicity concerns you may have. While it's a biggish project to do a kitchen like this all the techniques are basic or straight forward and the fact that you cover the inital work of the frames means you can make a quite a few bodges whilst climbing the learning curve and never see the evidence.
Good luck and don't leave us hanging by forgetting to post what you decide do!

[sol381]

If you can smell the glue in an mdf cupboard then you should get a job at the airport sniffing bags for drugs.. Nearly all kitchen carcasses are made from mealamine and ive never smelt any nasty chemicals eminating from them. The stuff is ready made, easy to work with and probably the cheapest option. Wont warp like wood when it gets a bit wet either.

[toddles]

If you can smell the glue in an mdf cupboard then you should get a job at the airport sniffing bags for drugs.. Nearly all kitchen carcasses are made from mealamine and ive never smelt any nasty chemicals eminating from them. The stuff is ready made, easy to work with and probably the cheapest option. Wont warp like wood when it gets a bit wet either.

Sol: Different strokes mate. I agree that melamine is ideal but that doesn't mean everyone needs to do it the done way if they don't want to.
(PS: Is mealamine special food grade melamine?)

[sol381]

LOL... yeah crunchy but tastes like crap.... I know what you mean but is sandstone didnt want to use melamine just beacaus of the glues i dont see a problem there.

[Just George]

Melamine HMR board is the way to go, it's resistant to moisture, easy to clean - so much so you could eat off it. It's what cabinetmakers are using to build kitchens today.If you're worried about it, contact the DPI/DNR(dep Prmiary Ind/Dep Nat Resources) for information on how safe it is to use. If they are not the departments to contact I'm sure someone here will know which is the right one. As someone else pointed out here, man made board won't move or warp like timber with moisture. If you were to build your kitchen out of timber(you'd need to in a kitchen), seal every piece of bare timber to stop it from moving. After all, it is a high moisture area behind the bathroom and laundry.If I can help, send me a message. I'm a cabinetmaker, perhaps I can give help or advice...