TheSamba.com :: View topic - Lightweight material for cabinet building?

Wed May 25, 2016 9:47 pm

VW/Westfalia used wood from some South African tree for their camper cabinets because it's light weight. Hard to get at Home Depot :)

What wood is recommended for cabinet building? What is the "aluminum" of wood? Thanks for any input.

-Rob

Wed May 25, 2016 9:53 pm

I used this stuff for yachts and airplane cabinetry.
http://www.plyveneer.com/plycorr.html

Wed May 25, 2016 10:02 pm

Ollie W wrote: I used this stuff for yachts and airplane cabinetry.
http://www.plyveneer.com/plycorr.html

Do you buy plain sheets with exposed edges and then band them with solid wood to the finish piece size? Or do you buy the finished sizes with finished edge treatments and laminates directly from the mfr? Their website isn't clear.

Any place in Portland that resells or do you take delivery from the mfr in Eugene? Thanks.

Wed May 25, 2016 10:55 pm

I used to get it from a wholesaler when I had commercial accounts. You could try Crosscut Lumber or Disdero? Shoot, that was 15 years ago, you might be able to get it on Amazon now?

As far as using it, I always cut it as a panel and edged it with solid wood.

Thu May 26, 2016 11:50 am

somebody had thrown out a piece of really lightweight plywood at my warehouse and I asked the woodworker there what it was and he called it "light ply".
google searched the word and got these results:
https://www.google.com/#q=light+plywood

Thu May 26, 2016 11:58 am

Rob: Try your local supplier of materials for the cabinet-building industry. Google "formica" and the name of your town or the closest larger town. Here in BC, a Canadian chain called "P.J. White Hardwoods Ltd." is the place to go. Home Depot will not likely have what you are looking for.

Thu May 26, 2016 12:13 pm

Marine okoume plywood is about the lightest thing you can find. Its pretty spendy, but its also pretty strong so you can get away with using thinner which makes it even lighter.
I used it on a truck bed buildout and it ended up very light and waterproof.

Thu May 26, 2016 12:48 pm

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/finnishbirch.php

Aloha
tp

Thu May 26, 2016 1:01 pm

Think about a way to use 1/4" Luan Plywood. It's way strong. My 18 year old FourWheel Camper uses that for sliding doors on the 1/2" lightweight plywood cabinets. I'd think that using a 3/4 x 3/4 strip of fir in the corners you could use the Luan plywood to make a pretty strong cabinet if you screwed and glued it together. It's available at Lowes or Home Depot.

Thu May 26, 2016 1:14 pm

There are building techniques for lightweight cabinet construction. One I used for a Chuck box called "skin and bones" keeps things very light using standard materials.

Brian

Thu May 26, 2016 1:25 pm

you want to use hexcell, which is what is used for the partitions (think bathroom bulkhead) ini passenger aircraft

Aircraft spruce or use google

I have a panel from a friend at Boing Boing and it is very light

you can do some dumpster diving at selected locations to get it cheap

Thu May 26, 2016 1:36 pm

For the best off the shelf option I would recommend Baltic Birch Plywood also called Russian Ply by some suppliers. It comes in 5'x5' sheets and thicknesses are metric but pretty close to 1/8", 3/8", 1/4" etc...
This is a display cabinet I made several years ago using flight case hardware and I think 1/8" Baltic Birch Ply. It was tough! About 5' in height and width.
Hope this helps.

Thu May 26, 2016 1:41 pm

End grain balsa with hardwood veneer or thin lamination of fiberglass is both very light and very stiff.
http://www.airexbaltekbanova.com/products/banova/banovareg-ply-ilo.html

Thu May 26, 2016 3:02 pm

geodude wrote: End grain balsa with hardwood veneer or thin lamination of fiberglass is both very light and very stiff.
http://www.airexbaltekbanova.com/products/banova/banovareg-ply-ilo.html

data sheet lists densities of ~~ 250 kg/m3 - a lot more than hexcell materials (maybe 5x as much, depending) but roughly half that of regular plywood

Like the man said: "light weight costs money -- how light do you want to be?"

Thu May 26, 2016 8:38 pm

Thu May 26, 2016 9:19 pm

In addition to the balance between strength and weight, I need to strike a balance between a lightweight material and cost :)

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm hoping for something I can find locally, in a landlocked city with no big-league marine supply stores.

For the curious, as I am, it is my understanding Westfalia used White Limba wood from South Africa for their cabinets:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminalia_superba

-Rob