Augie Dog

I use 3/4" C-2 maple plywood with a MDF cross band for paint grade cabinetry.

The MDF is a 1/8" thick layer under the finished skin. The center cores are made of poplar.

One of the benefits of this type of plywood is that there is no "telegraphing" of the grain from the layer below the finished skin. Not all plywood has the same quality of core. Some has more voids than others and the contours of what lives below definitely shows through the finish, more so on a high end paint job than any other finish.

I like to use Maple for all the solid stock as well. It is hard and holds paint real well. A lot of cabinetmakers will use poplar for their frames as it is cheap, machines well, easy as heck to sand and holds paint very well. It is just too soft for my tastes. I will use poplar for crown moldings and other add ons that up and out of harms way.

For hardware I use Blum. Their Tandem drawer slides have changed the industry standard to full extension with soft close action. They have everything you need in hinges as well. Google is your friend for that.

Just like others have said, a combination of joinery is where you will end up. Don't under estimate the power of a butt joint and pocket screws or standard screws. You can almost always find a way to get by with one or the other. Adding dados is fine if you can comeup with a system that doesn't drive you crazy.

The most important element of cabinetry is your ability to break down your sheet goods into nice and square parts without any tear out of the finished skin. You need a good table saw and a cross cut sled as a minimum. Google cross cut sled and there are good plans available.

Nothing to this stuff, anyone can do it.

We just spent the last two days installing this paint grade job. Has all the materials mentioned.

Have fun and be safe