I am about to build some kitchen cabinets with solid birch for the doors
and trim, and birch ply for the carcases. In looking up birch I find 3
kinds listed. White (paper) birch, red birch, and yellow birch. My
current understanding is that white birch is the sapwood and red birch
is the heartwood of the same tree. Yellow birch seems to be a different
species. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each. Is it all in
the color? Grain and workability different? Are both suitable for
cabinet fronts.
Can somebody enlighten me further on this.
Len
Nope. These are all species of birch tree. Especially, I'd stay clear
of white and grey- garbage relative to black, yellow, red.
Your best bet is to get some samples of the ply and dimension material,
surface & finish them as intended, and choose the combo you prefer.
And ... there are sometimes truth-in-labeling problems, so you might
not be getting what you anticipate. Besides piece-to-piece variation.
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> Nope. These are all species of birch tree. Especially, I'd stay clear
> of white and grey- garbage relative to black, yellow, red.
>
> Your best bet is to get some samples of the ply and dimension material,
> surface & finish them as intended, and choose the combo you prefer.
>
> And ... there are sometimes truth-in-labeling problems, so you might
> not be getting what you anticipate. Besides piece-to-piece variation.
>
Well, maybe. Some consider, for instance that "black" birch and "cherry"
birch are merely sports, not species. Of course, "white birch" can be other
than paper birch, too.
The one thing you can count on with birch is that the solid wood will more
closely resemble the peeled veneer than with almost anything else you can
buy. With the price of sliced veneer, that's a plus.