This comparison of shop made vs. factory made cabinets is almost funny.

[Cooler]

https://www.toulmincabinetry.com/blog/ma...-cabinetry


A large cabinet manufacturing facility:

• Uses the best industry hardwood plywood, featuring high-end panels and face veneers.
  
• Uses extremely durable particleboard or MDF.
  
• Measures wood for moisture content before it’s received and monitors indoor humidity.
  
• Can make doors in any wood or finish you want.
  

Small cabinet maker:

• Do not take advantage of the benefits of particleboard or MDF.
  
• Use often lower grade multipurpose materials.
  
• Do not offer inset cabinet construction because they can’t control the moisture content well enough.
  

[fredhargis]

[tomsteve]

this is the laugh i needed today. unfortunately, many people will believe that.
and this:

[color=rgba(43, 40, 33, 0.86)]In contrast, small local cabinet makers tend to:[/color]

• Let finishes air drive, meaning they often never fully cure. This means the surface may absorb grime and food, which gives them a gummy look and feel.
  
  
• Finish in a room at their shop or at the job site, both of which are exposed to high levels of dust.
  
  
• Use orbital hand sanders and hand paint sprayers, which prevent achieving the same depth, consistency, and durability of factory finished cabinets.
  

[color=rgba(43, 40, 33, 0.86)]The bottom line: Unless the local cabinet shop is equipped with a baking booth, its cabinets will not have the same quality as factory-finished ones.[/color]

[Turner52]

Truly amazing what some companies will post and how many people will believe it. Unfortunatly most people have no knowledge of this aspect of their home and can easily be duped. In the Green Bay area there are many custom cabinet shops. Some are of exceptional quality. For most jobs they will come measure, design, build and install Even the ones that are not exceptional still do a good job as a whole. If they didn't they would soon be out of business. When I was still working we always recommended local shops for all of the cabinets. Tred to steer our customers away from big box or internet cabinets. We would give them names and contact numbers to 3-4 businesses. It was much easier for us and I believe our customers ened up with better cabinets that way

[GeeDub]

I felt very awkward when my MIL got her "solid wood" kitchen remodel done by a pro shop. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was looking at plastic wrapped MDF with pictures of wood on it. While it is true that I am missing out on the advantages of particle board I do use plywood for some of my structural elements for stability and weight reasons.

[jteneyck]

Much of what they claim is true.  Factory applied finishes generally are far superior to what a small shop can do.  The large volume factories use curtain coaters on flat parts and robotic spray systems for the rest.  The finishes they use are UV cured or baked which ends up producing a harder and more chemically durable finish.  Small shops are a lot more challenged to produce a finish as perfect or durable as high end factory cabinets.   ProClassic isn't going to cut it.  You have to go to conversion varnish, 2K Poly, or some other catalyzed finish to get comparable performance.  

Particle board and MDF are flat and stable, and a perfectly acceptable choice for non structural applications as long as it stays dry, If it's off the floor and sealed it's stays dry.  Most folks get their knickers all knotted up about using them in a kitchen or bath application but they have a long history of success.  The classic substrate for Formica is particle board.  Ikea's boxes are particle board.  How many million have they sold?  Kitchens get torn out every 20 - 30 years; we're not talking generational heirloom furniture here.  I made my kitchen cabinets from Melamine coated particle board; still going strong after 25 years.  The hardwood veneered plywood doors and drawer fronts, however, had all kinds of veneer splits and checks in them when I made all new ones last year.  My old bathroom cabinets were made from Melamine, too, and were fine when I replaced them after 30 years with, heaven forbid, a combination of Melamine and veneered MDF ones. My half bath sink sits on a painted MDF vanity top.  Looks just fine after 3 years or so.  

There is a new to me product called Pluma-Ply.  It has a core of plywood with 3 mm top layers of HDF.  It's darned heavy, but works well for structural applications, is stable and perfectly flat and of consistent thickness, and paints great.  I used in for some cabinet and passage door panels last year and am very impressed.  For paint grade cabinet boxes it is a better choice than plywood.    

John

[FrankAtl]

Let finishes air drive, meaning they often never fully cure. This means the surface may absorb grime and food, which gives them a gummy look and feel.

Only if you're sure they haven't been drinking!

They must have some pretty bad local cabinet makers!

[R Clark]

This post enticed me to look at the link.  The language usage made me first think of an offshore outfit; then I went to the "ABOUT" tab and see they're in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

They need to hire a new copy editor.  The one they have is deficient.  A marketing consultant might be a good move, too.

Roll Tide...  

[FS7]

I've used MDF in certain applications. I used it for drawer bottoms the first time I ever made drawers, which were butt-jointed and tapped together with finish nails. MDF is fine for certain things, but it doesn't like moisture and does not hold fasteners well at all.

I have never used particle board. The problem with using particle board for...well, almost anything is that once it gets wet, it's toast. It's generally poor at holding fasteners too. But the moisture is the real issue. Under a sink, inside a drawer. even putting away dishes, pots, or pans that aren't fully dry - you've got bubbles or warps now.

Do you want "high-end dovetailed drawers" that aren't sanded flush and have visible gaps? Go with a big manufacturer. Do you want particle board construction that is rarely, if ever, square? Go with a big manufacturer. 

There are advantages to going with a big manufacturer. Cost, variety, and lead time are legitimate pros. There is no need to make up things that are blatantly false.

[Cooler]

I've used melamine clad particle board.  It is a time saver and makes a good interior for cabinets.  I do think it makes the cabinets look cheap however. 

MDF takes paint really well.  If you sand and seal the machined surfaces they will take paint well too.

They are dimensionally stable.  I would not hesitate to use 1/4" MDF for center panels on Shaker doors, though I prefer using 1/2" plywood and milling the outer edges to fit.

These panels are cheap.  (And advantage).

Manufacturers use UV cured finishes for one reason only:  It dries fast and can get shipped fast.  They don't care about the quality issue at all. 

My experience with UV cured finishes is that they don't do well on table tops or surfaces that get repeatedly wiped down.  (Examine any table at Starbucks that has been in service for 6 months or more--the finish will be soft and easily damaged). 

There is a reason that the big fast food chains still us formica for table tops:  It stands up to repeated cleaning without degrading.

Kitchen cabinets are unique in the woodworking world.  The major structure in a kitchen cabinet is the wall that it is attached to.  That wall prevents racking and imparts stability.  The only "structrure" likely to fail in a kitchen cabinet are the removable shelves and the drawer boxes.  Even the shoddy vinyl clad particle board cabinets look good with decent doors and drawer fronts and will feel solid once installed.

"We" as woodworkers probably over-build cabinets that are expected to 10 to 15 years (the average time between kitchen remodels).