Finishing the inside of a cabinet door

[boardgamer]

First post, so be gentle! I'm planning to build new kitchen cabinets this Summer - Shaker-style, mostly oak, using veneered MDF for the carcasses and frame & panel doors (real wood frame, veneered MDF panels). I'm intending to use a couple of coats of Zinsser Seal Coat for the interiors. For the doors, Seal Coat followed by 3 coats of General Finishes High Performance. So now to the question - I've always generally finished items with the same finishes on all faces, to avoid any differential behaviour. But there are many recommendations to refrain from "smelly" finishes inside cabinets to avoid build-up of smell. That's fine for the carcasses/shelves/etc, shellac will suffice, but what about the inside of the cabinet doors? Should they get the same finish as the front side, or would a couple of coats of Seal Coat be sufficient? Or a half-way house of shellac/single coat of poly on the inside?

[AceHoleInOne]

Kitchen and wet hands, avoid the shellac. General Finishes High Performance is a water-based topcoat and when cured, no noticeable order. I would suggest to use it on the outside and inside of the doors/drawer fronts, face frame.

To help save on material cost, perhaps use their water-based lacquer, its more economical, use it to coat the inside, again no noticeable odor when dry. Just a thought

[CessnaPilotBarry]

What Ace said about the doors, but for the boxes...

Think about making the cabinet boxes from prefinished maple or birch plywood. At my dealer, prefinished ply is just a few bucks more a sheet than unfinished, yet it comes with a super-durable finish perfectly applied.

[dwacker]

I would not use mdf for the carcase, mdf is to heavy and falls apart under its own weight. Finishing kitchen cabinets depends on the construction. For 99% of my cabinets I use prefinish ply. If it were not using pre finished I'd use pretty much anything cheap for the carcase. (conversion varnish, precat lac) I build mine so that I can finish the face frames and doors seperatly from the carcase. For the face frames and doors I only use conversion varnish. If you not able to spray I would stick with your GF idea.

Don

[boardgamer]

Thanks for the advice guys! I've previously looked at the pre-finished material, but was hesitant due to (a) never having even seen the stuff, much less used it, and ( concern that it'll be harder for me to repair damage, either during construction or later. Little things like a slightly rough cut from the tablesaw or scrape during installation or whatever. I've also veered towards MDF as it is much more available, and (water aside) appears to be stronger than ply. I've used it a lot (for non-kitchen, admittedly), and it really like it.

Um, I'll go to the supplier and make my mind up then.

[CessnaPilotBarry]

Notes about prefinished plywood:

- As with any good plywood, cut it with the show face UP on a table saw, and DOWN with a circular saw. You want the the tooth doing the cutting to be entering the show face and exiting the hidden face for the cleanest cut.

- The finish is far more durable than you would guess, and applied better than you can do it.

- Scuffs and light scratches are easily fixed with paste wax.

- The "good" side goes IN, which will be full of items and not in direct light.

- Since the finish is fully cured before you get the material, the inside of your cabinets will never stink like finish. This is bigger than you might understand, since some user-applied finishes can stick for years in a closed cabinet or drawer box.

I understand it many not work for other reasons, but don't be afraid of messing up the finish on that stuff.

[dwacker]

I've also veered towards MDF as it is much more available, and (water aside) appears to be stronger than ply.

Its not stronger than plywood nor are the joints you create with it. Its also to heavy for uppers unless you use the Ultra 1/2" which is light but to put it nicely junk.

Don