Sorry to hear that. They had some very nice material at Boulter Plywood in Somerville, MA a couple of weeks ago, but I do't imagine you want to pay for shipping. You might give the a call though, they are very helpful and might help you find a source. I think AA is a special order product, I've never seen any. A1 is the best grade in stock material as far as I know. The 1 side is perfectly useable as a show face, it may be plain if the best side is curly, but will have only a few extremely minor defects. Mostly here we see A2, and the 2 side is also completely useable as a show face.

"But I do wonder why the tops of solid plank tables don't split more often than they do.... " They are not fastened in a way to restrict the movement of the top. There are metal 'clips' that attah to the bottom of the top and ride in grooves on the inside of the apron, 'Figure 8' (AKA 'double washer', and a lot of other names) that are fastened with 2 screws and allowed to twist slightly to allow movement, blocks of wood fastned to the underside f the top that ride in grooves in the apron (wood version of the metal clips), expanding tables with leaves just push part way open, and some others I cannot even remember at the moment. All these methods allow a large top (it moves as a single board) to move on the apron while remaining tightly attached. Wood does not move appreicably along the grain, but changes dimensiomn perpendicular to the grain. Chapter 3 of the Wood Engineering Handbook by the Forest Products Lab of USDA has a detailed explanation of wood movement (including an 'end view' of a tree showing how the wood changes shape). The book is online for free.

You are supposed to recess that toekick until it covers the black. A wood skin covers the sides. Your sides are currently just the vinyl print boxes that aren't flush, and they have the bit of space for the skin that's supposed to be applied. After the skin and toekick are applied, then scribe molding is used at the wall and any edges to cover the seams. Any cut edges use the touch up marker to conceal them. And both the skins and the toekick should be bradnailed in place, not glued. Then the brads are covered with a bit of the matching putty from the touch up kit that should have been ordered with the cabinets.

Kerrys.... The way it has been explained to me by my CabGuy....depending on the style door, and depending on the over all height, and depending on the wood, solid wood doors (especially slab style) can possibly bow/warp slightly over time. Plywood will not warp. One can get plywood that is made completely of a single species of wood. And if you get the better quality veneered plywood, you should be able to refinish them a couple of times as the veneer will be thick enough to handle it. CabGuy assures me that I will not have issues of delamination, etc. with the plywood he will use. Now that I have selected my wood species (as of today), my GC/CabGuy is going to make sample doors for me - one out of veneered plywood and one of solid wood, stained and finished for me to decide which way I want to proceed. I'm not sure my input will help you much in your decision making. : / Pepper