I’m looking to build a kitchen island. What type of wood should I use?
by Author on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 | 10 Comments
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the morning wood always works well.
definitly maple its hard enough to stand up to yrs of use and great for butcher blocks dont go with corian counter there finish wont last more then 10 yr i got granite which is great heat and stain "proof" pay alittle more get alot more as for the inland i build them from scratch and i wood use maple 10 ply wood with stain grade finish and u can use glue and nails if u dont want to get into hrs of work but put some 2×2 nail blocks in corners inside for added strenght
Most people would use a mixture of plywood with pine for the exterior.
My parents designed their own kitchen 20 years ago, and it was lovely; a relative custom built the island for us, with a wood counter top… and it was the one thing Mom regretted about the kitchen in all those years… I think every day! I grew up with constantly being reminded to be careful of the island counter: don’t leave anything wet on it, be careful not to dent it, be careful not to scratch it, etc. My own kitchen has Corian counters, and she greatly envies those for the greater practical use and wear and tear.
I used 2 wall cabinets butted back to back and screwed together. They were on the wall above my toilets in the bathrooms. They are 36" tall x 24" wide x 12" deep. I glued 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood together and cut an oval shaped top out of it 48" x 36" which gives enough room for 2 barstools on the long edge and 1 at each end. I let the stool sides overhang 12" and screwed 1×2 supports in the top of the cabinets. I screwed the top to the cabinets from underneath and laminated the top and sides. I have since tiled over it and also painted the tiles. I nailed gliders to the bottom corners of the island.
tree wood
You can use what ever wood you like!
I like Oak- Ash- Maple- Beach- Pine
Look at how the factory made units are constructed and follow that lead!- you will need some sort of frame to hold the unit rigid and to hang the doors to- normally for the frame you use the cheapest wood Pine
Many islnds are built with particle board and then Fomica the island once you are done. Oak is a great wood to use for your project
build the carcass of the cabinet with 3/4" plywood, the veneer can be any species of wood you like. i would try to match the existing cabinets.
face frames, rails and stiles for doors and drawer fronts all need to be made from solid stock.
The answer depends on what’s already in your kitchen. Simply put, most manufacturers make their cabinetry from plywood or some form of composite board. You can purchase either at a local home center. (You might want to look at the cabinet specification details on national manufacturers’ web sites to see how they’re constructed.)
Which veneer, paint or stain you finish the cabinets with will determine how pulled together your kitchen looks. The easiest solution is to choose a paint that coordinates with the colors already in your kitchen. (It’s common these days to see combinations like toffee-stained maple on the perimeter and a black painted island, for example.) Take a look at sites like kitchens.com and kitchenbathideas.com for ideas. Talk to your favorite paint pro about the right paint formulations for kitchen cabinet use, so that you end up with a durable finish.
Here’s a posting I wrote recently on how to size your island for maximum kitchen efficiency:
http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com/2008/12/island-fever-i-sizing-things-up_02.html
Good luck with your endeavor.