Cabinet face frame calculator
Enter the cabinet's width and height and how many openings it has. This gives the stiles, rails and mullions to cut, for pocket screws or mortise and tenon, and the opening each one leaves.
= 30.5"
Advanced settings1 1/2" stiles · 1 1/2" rails · 1 1/2" bottom · 1 1/2" mullions · 6" top row
= 1.5"
= 1.5"
= 1.5"
= 1.5"
Rows below share the rest
= 0.375"
Each opening
Wide
15 3/4"
Tall, top row
6"
20" below
Pieces
7
Openings
4
Stock
15.5 ft
Cut list
- Stiles1 1/2" wide, full height
- 2 × 30 1/2"
- Top and bottom rails1 1/2" wide, butt-jointed
- 2 × 33"
- Intermediate rails1 1/2" wide, butt-jointed
- 1 × 33"
- Mullions, top row1 1/2" wide, butt-jointed
- 1 × 6"
- Mullions, bottom row1 1/2" wide, butt-jointed
- 1 × 20"
Openings, and where the mullions go
- Top row
- 2 × 15 3/4" × 6"
- Row 2
- 2 × 15 3/4" × 20"
- Mullion 1, left edgeFrom the frame's left end — mark both rails at once
- 17 1/4"
- Check across2 × 1 1/2" stiles + 2 × 15 3/4" + 1 × 1 1/2"
- 36"
Before you cut
All 2 checks passShow the numbers
- Every opening has room in it — passes4 openings, the narrowest 15 3/4" wide and the shortest 6" tall.
- Members 1.25"–2.5" wide — passesEvery stile, rail and mullion is a normal face frame width for a hinge or a slide to land on.
- Every opening has room in it — passes4 openings, the narrowest 15 3/4" wide and the shortest 6" tall.
- Members 1.25"–2.5" wide — passesEvery stile, rail and mullion is a normal face frame width for a hinge or a slide to land on.
Where to buy this
- 16 ft of face frame stockHome DepotLowe's
Total length of every piece laid end to end, before kerf and offcuts — the cut list optimizer turns it into boards. It searches the material, not a size we worked out for you.
Plain search links, nothing sponsored. Prices and stock are the shop's, and a local lumberyard will usually beat both on solid stock.
Worked example: a 36" base cabinet
A 36" × 30 1/2" face frame with 1 1/2" members, two openings across and two rows down, leaves openings 15 3/4" wide: 6" tall in the top row, and 20" tall in the bottom row.
Pocket-screwed, it is 7 pieces: 2 × 30 1/2" (stiles), 2 × 33" (top and bottom rails), 1 × 33" (intermediate rails), 1 × 6" (mullions, top row), and 1 × 20" (mullions, bottom row).
It passes all 2 of the frame checks the calculator applies.
- Openings
- 4, 15 3/4" wide
- Stiles
- 2 × 30 1/2"
- Top and bottom rails
- 2 × 33"
- Intermediate rails
- 1 × 33"
- Mullions, top row
- 1 × 6"
- Mullions, bottom row
- 1 × 20"
These are the figures the calculator above opens on. Change any field and it works the same problem for your numbers.
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About face frames
- How long do I cut face frame rails?
- The frame width less both stiles, plus whatever goes into the stiles. For a 36" frame with 1 1/2" stiles that is 33" for pocket screws, which butt the rail against the stile, and 33 3/4" with a 3/8" stub tenon on each end. Stiles always run the full height and carry no allowance.
- How wide should face frame stiles and rails be?
- Most face frames are 1 1/2" to 2" wide, and the calculator flags anything outside 1 1/4" to 2 1/2" — the same range the cabinet box calculator checks. Narrower leaves too little for a hinge plate or a drawer slide bracket to land on; wider eats the opening. A bottom rail is often a little wider than the rest so it lines up with the cabinet floor.
- How do I work out the opening size with a mullion?
- Take the stiles and every mullion off the width, then divide by the number of openings. A 36" frame with 1 1/2" stiles and one 1 1/2" mullion leaves 31 1/2" for two openings, 15 3/4" each. Mark the mullion from the frame's left end, not from the last opening — 17 1/4" to its left edge — so the rounding does not walk across the frame.
- Should the mullion or the rail run through?
- Either works, and the choice changes the cut list rather than the openings. With the rail running through, one drawer rail spans stile to stile and the mullion is cut into a short piece above it and a longer one below — the usual build for drawers over doors. With the mullion running through, it spans top rail to bottom rail and the drawer rails are short pieces between stile and mullion, which suits tall doors side by side. The calculator gives the pieces for both.
You might also need
- Cabinet boxesA carcass cut list from the finished outside dimensions, face-frame or frameless.
- Cabinet door size calculatorDoor sizes from the face frame opening for full overlay, partial overlay or inset, single or pair, and the stile, rail and panel cuts for a five-piece door.
- Pocket hole screw calculatorScrew length and thread by material thickness, and how far apart to space the holes along an edge joint.
- Cut list optimizerLay your parts out on a sheet of plywood and get the cuts in order. Accounts for blade kerf and keeps the grain running the right way.