Overheard a guy trash plywood edges, had to speak up
At a job site in Portland yesterday, this new guy says plywood edges are for amateurs. Said real cabinetmakers use solid wood or veneer only. I've built 60+ boxes with good Baltic birch and a tight router bit. The edges look clean and hold up fine. My client's kitchen from 2019 still has zero delamination. Anyone else tired of the solid wood snobbery?
That new guy must have never had to price out a full kitchen remodel. Baltic birch is a workhorse, plain and simple. My neighbor, who has been doing high-end trim for thirty years, always says the same thing about solid wood. He once spent a whole weekend matching grain on a panel door and then a customer spilled a bottle of red wine on it. The stain soaked right in and ruined the whole thing. Nobody is bragging about plywood edges at a dinner party, but nobody is crying over a ruined $400 slab either. The job gets done, it lasts, and the client is happy. That is what actually matters at the end of the day.