Plan on sheathing an exterior (NC, fully exposed) kitchen cabinet with Sapele (purchased as KD 3/4 S4S, random widths). Cabinet is ~ 105"Lx25"Dx33"H rectangular prism with 4 doors & 2 drawers, on one long side. Built upon a construction 2x4 skeleton. How do I deal with Sapele's expansion/shrinkage or tendency to cup? Vertical boards, or horizontal best? For the 105"x33" rectangle, horizontal may be better??? Maybe fixed screws (SS) at top where they will be hidden by granite counter overhand and then use Z clips (not iron) attached to the vertical 2x4 skeleton connected the back of the Sapele (one per board, centered) to allow downward movement (lateral expansion) and still keep it flat (at 3/4 S4S, screws would be short!). The 100x33" rectangle would be boards glued together so it moves as one without creating gaps. The sides, 25x33" could be done similarly or with vertical boards. Again, gluing together would allow it to move as one piece. If I glue these myself I could use buiscuits... Regular exterior glue good enough? I read mixed inputs on the gluability of Sapele, cabinet corners could be 5/4 or 6/4 moldeed to overlap the main panels so some expansion contraction could be hidden... was going to use Ipe for this but its 3X the cost. Ideas, suggestions, recomendations and cautionary tales welcomed. Assume finish will be some sort of recomended exterior UV shielding oil. Should this project be successful, 24' of benches to follow, large table... and more. As I am sure all readers can tell, this is an amateur asking! Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Why would you build a box out of 2x4 and then
clad it with a fine hardwood? The Sapele is perfectly capable of being both the structure and the face.

Or perhaps I am just not understanding your cabinet/plan. A drawing or two would be helpful to address your concerns with movement.

Well, just absorbed the "amateur asking" statement.

'Zacktly how does an amateur get the amount of high end (?) work you mention?

Benches and tables - you are a long way from being able to design the production of such things, are you not?

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WOODWEB is a professional industrial woodworking site. Hobbyist and homeowner woodworking questions are inappropriate.

Apologize, did not realize I could not ask questions from an amateur perspective. This is something I am doing for myself. I can provide drawings, but I guess it would be inapropriate for me to do so. I am located in NC, Raleigh area if anybody cares to contact me directly. I realize what I am planning is not "normal" which is why I was hoping for a higher caliber of help.

But, to answer the question, agree I could use the same wood for the frame, but I do not see that as needed.

I enjoyed reading the blog between professionals. Very enlightning.

Thank you for reading my question and sorry for wasting your time.

Dave, Rich objects to to you stealing his rice bowl

Once again, I just don't get it. Our industry, along with every other trade profession out there is struggling/desperate to find anyone that may be interested in what we do. Instead of helping or teaching those that actually show some interest, there is a group on this site whose sole purpose is to try and maintain some sort of "holier than thou" mentality as if they are too important or qualified to help resolve a serious issue facing our industry. Why not use our time and effort to help build up interest in what we do, instead of continually berating and alienating those that actually show some sort of interest? The potential ROI could be exponentially more than we can even imagine.

Marcelo, on behalf of the reasonable people on this site, I would like to offer an apology for the responses you have received thus far. I have been in the wood working industry for 30+ years, but unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to focus/work on exterior cabinetry to the point that I can offer confident advice. I actually built myself something very similar to what you are describing for my own personal use on my deck. The big difference is I wrapped the frame structure in composite decking material to match my newly built deck.

Hopefully someone with some exterior woodworking experience can chime in and actually give you some sound advice, best of luck with your project.

Thank you, reasonable thing to do! I thought of it, my wife disaproved!

Will explore if I can get the boards shiplapped milled. May be the better part of valor. More straightforward to address potential for expansion and cupping. which is my only real concern. All else I can do, albeit not efficiently, but that is not the point for me.

Nevertheles, time is $ and I do not waste folks time.

Thank you again.

The forum rules set the tone for helping people without a professional shop. Not so much a holier than thou as it is just against the guidelines that site owners/administrators have set up. They pay for this site to exist.

I suggest Marcelo be sent elsewhere, where he can get good help and advice. I also suggest he post good sectional drawings showing how he proposes to build this cabinet. While he may feel his explanation is adequate, it is only as it comes from his perspective. Drawings are the language we communicate with, so that is where we stand.

Decided to add a graphic and specifications since it was mentioned. Excluded the frame details as that is my approach which I am sure nobody else would use. Intent is to maximimize internal useful space and not waste it on supporting structure, as much as practicably possible. A lot of drawers trying to maximize useful width of each.


Click the link below to download the file included with this post.

Outdoor_wood_kitchen_detailed__Ext_Drwg_Rev01.pdf

If 85% of what RichC posts is inappropriate and basically useless I say we help Marcelo with what looks like a very interesting project.

Nope, RichC and Dave's post are very useful

To maximize space I'd use 3/4" 2 sided MDO exterior plywood for the case including the back, lumber edgebanding, then clad with frame and panels of your choice or shiplapped vertical or horizontal boards, allowing for some inevitabe movement

Thank you Jim. Will explore your suggestion.