I too am having slab cabinet doors in natural maple. I don't quite get what you are referring to as far as the lines. Are you perhaps referring to a piece of maple plywood where the maple veneer is put together in strips that are maybe 6" or 8" wide, and, since these are all individual pieces of wood, the grains don't match? Or, are you referring to the fact that maple itself has graining?

Oh no. Im referring to what is apparently some other wood entirely. From googling it seems to be rift sawn oak.

In the pictures

Ive seen the lines if grain are so uniform and matched so well it doesnt even look like oak. In this bathroom picture they are horizontal, in many kit hen pictures they are vertical. Probably cost a bazillion dollars through a kithen shop. Which one apparently has to use with a contracted builder. Ikea has nice looking ones so not sure I understand why I cant get some.

Can I ask if you are staining your maple? Are you concerned about the yellow tone of maple? Andcyes concerned about graining, its rather random in maple. Not like the uniform striping of this rift sawn oak.

I cannot tell what you mean either. You need to post a photo. Why are you saying that posting a photo “apparently not an option”? There are thousands of photos posted on this forum.

Do you mean the flecks and mineral streaks that can sometimes be seen in maple? Or do you mean the typical grain of maple like this pic? This is just what maple looks like; if its not what you want, perhaps a painted finish is what you’d like.

I think the really uniform grain examples are bookmatched and/or veneers. And yes, typically much more expensive.

I agree with AG. Rift sawn or veneer type grain. You will never get that look with Maple grain. Also, natural, clear coated maple will yellow over time and not give you the Scandi look. Just be aware of what you're buying vs the look you're going for are very different.

You can get strong lines by rift sawing maple, but unless you are making instruments no one does it. By the time you pay for rift sawn maple you can afford rift sawn white oak and it is better.

It takes a lot of extra time to carry grain from door to door, it can be done in rift sawn or woods that have a lot of cathedral grain, but it is expensive for a production shop to do.

They keep trying to talk me into maple but I dint like the randomness of the grain. They would have to look for clear pieces. I also dont like the yellow but they keep telling me it wont get that bad, uv coatings bla blah.

I think what I want is rift sawn white oak, but I guess they know I cant afford it. Cherry is to dark. Dont want painted. Im skimping everywhere on tge vadtly overpriced house and cant get the one thing that seems important.

You couldn't live with these maple kitchens that have slab doors?

Modern kitchen with CWP Cabinetry & Marble Island · More Info

Maple cabinets – a good choice for elegant and modern kitchen cabinets · More Info

Natural Maple Modern Kitchen · More Info

@Marie Schatz - Maple grain is no more random than oak grain. Here is a maple veneer that is fairly cheap.

Maple is not my preferred either. Oak or walnut is more my cup of tea. But it’s all personal preference at the end of the day eh. You should go with what you like best. Don’t let sales people make the decision for you.

“Don’t let sales people make the decision for you.”

@Jennifer Svensson - I do not agree that the salespeople are making the decision for the OP. Her budget is. Salespeople would be very happy to sell her the much-higher-priced cabinetry in grain-matched rift-sawn oak that the OP is attracted to. There is only so much of your ”you should go with what you like best” before the budget has to be considered. Or do you think the OP should pay whatever it costs in order to get “what she likes best”?

I didn’t say the sales people were making the decisions for the OP, I just cautioned them as OP had expressed themself that the sales people were doing everything they could to convince OP to move forward with an option that OP clearly does not like. Budget is a limiting factor of course, I never said anything to the contrary. I’d hate for OP to be pushed into buying something they later regret. Maybe there are other options available to them that they can consider.

“I didn’t say the sales people were making the decisions for the OP”

Ok, sorry, I misunderstood. I thought when you wrote ”Don’t let sales people make the decision for you“ you were saying that the salespeople were making the decisions for the OP. There are likely other options for the OP, but the salespeople were operating within the OP’s budget (which s/he has not shared on this thread other than the remark ”I guess they know I cant afford it”), and are likely providing options they have in their store with that in mind. The OP should go to other cabinet showrooms and see other choices available. But the rift-sawn grain-matched look s/he has said s/he likes is going to be several multiples of what maple costs.

Juliest, I think those maple cabs are #1 select boards chosen for their lack of grain. Will I get the special boards something for publication? idk.

The top tw are too yellow. The third is nice and light, almost pink.

Bry911. That looks like rift sawn maple which is unusual, or reconstituted. Either way its on tge yellow side.

Not sure where you get this across the board and wondering what the lightest stain to defeat the yelliw would be

Someone somwhere else was saying there is a big diffetence between oil clear coat, which yellows and water baded which does not. Is this true?

"Someone somwhere else was saying there is a big diffetence between oil clear coat, which yellows and water baded which does not. Is this true?"

YES

While it's true that oil based will yellow and water based doesn't yellow (much), it's kind of a moot point. The wood itself will darken and yellow over time and there's not much you can do about that. I had a full natural maple kitchen with factory water based clear coat and it certainly did not stay the same light and neutral color. It became yellow over time. That is just the nature of the wood.

Somewhere on some thread here about natural maple someone mentioned a finish that can be put on natural maple that is still basically a clear coat but has some sort of whitening in it to keep the cabinets more white with less yellowing. Keep in mind though that natural maple (even if it yellows as it ages) is a classic and has been around for decades. Today's rift sawn white look woods are the latest cycle of ever-changing trends.

If you don't want maple, and you can't afford the rift sawn with the gain matching, take a look at slab doors with the man-made materials. Some definitely have the overall look you are going for.

Yourvbest option to get the look that you want within your budget is a laminate over solid MDF panel. It will be more durable as well.

@Marie Schatz said, "Bry911. That looks like rift sawn maple which is unusual, or reconstituted. Either way its on tge yellow side."

Rift sawn is only unusual because quarter sawn Maple (which is actually what I linked) is very close to the same thing.

It is difficult to make too many comments because I have no idea what you are doing. Surely your cabinetmaker isn't going to do flat sawn solid plank Maple doors. I frankly don't like any type of solid plank doors, but flat sawn would just be too much wood movement to warranty. So you are likely (hopefully) getting a veneer over an engineered product and there simply isn't this giant price difference in veneers.

Just for reference my supplier's pricing... A 4' x 8' sheet of flat sawn Maple veneer is $103.50. A 4' x 8' sheet of quarter sawn Maple veneer is $161. A 4' x 8' sheet of rift sawn White Oak veneer is $158. I can also get them in 4' x 12' sheets if you have pantry cabinets and tall ceilings. That seems like a steep increase, but wood for cabinets are really not much of the total cost. Many times cabinetmakers will mark up Oak and Walnut because people will pay rather than there are a lot of additional costs.

Again, the big cost driver is going to be trying to get the lines consistent through the cabinets and not the grain. If you want your bottom, middle and top drawers cut out of the same pieces that wastes time and lumber can costs a decent amount. If it is not affordable I would try to find options that you like that are.

I was thinking the same thing as Joseph P. Look into doors with a laminate veneer. You will find the look you want at a decent price, and a guarantee the color will never change.

There are even textured laminates now that have a textured finish, that look - and feel - like wire brushed wood.

Nicole