# Pre-finished plywood



## Screw (Nov 25, 2012)

I'm building a cabinet that I want to finish a dark cherry color. I'm thinking pre-finished plywood because the interior color matches the existing cabinets and it seems like I could save a fair bit of time.

But i've got a couple of questions.

I've never stained a cabinet, everything I've done has been painted and much less intimidating. I can find Birch and Maple prefin locally but from what i understand, Maple doesn't stain well. How does Birch handle it? 

Also, common sense tells me that I should make the drawer fronts from the same material I make the body out of to get a consistent grain. Is that the case or can I mix materials?

I'm also running across 1 and 2 sided pre fin, does that mean just what it says? Are both sides finished on the 2 sided ply?

I know these may seem like newb questions... but I'm a newb 

Thanks


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

What do you mean by prefinished?

George


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## Screw (Nov 25, 2012)

What I'm thinking of is a polyurethane type finish on one side and unfinished on the other.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Prefinished comes in either one sided or both sides finished (at least at my supplier, and they stock the Columbia Forest Products prefinished). The only stuff I've seen was maple veneer, and the times I've used it I've never tried to stain the unfinished side. Much easier, and a little more accurate to color would be to panel the side with whatever the appropriate wood might be. Back to your question: I have just as much problem staining birch as I do maple, so I try to avoid either (for stain). I have had success using dyes, but that may not work for you. I would at least want the drawer fronts to be the same material as the face frame. That finish, BTW, is anything but a polyurethane, it is instead some kind of UV cured acrylic product (at least on the CFP stuff). A couple of other brands I've seen also claim to be a UV cured finish, but didn't specify the resin.


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## Screw (Nov 25, 2012)

Thanks Fred, 

I'll have to go take a look at what my local yard has. It may be that pre-finished is not the right material for this job, I guess it's not what I thought it was. I was thinking it would be a time saver but in this application, maybe not.

Thanks again.


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