Raised Panel Calculator
Size cabinet door raised panels from the frame opening, profile raise, reveal, expansion gap, bevel angle, stock thickness, door count, and waste allowance.
Pick a common raised-panel door setup, then fine-tune the dimensions to match your rail and stile cutter set, groove depth, and shop stock.
Calculation Breakdown
Use these tables as shop planning references. Final groove depth, cope-and-stick fit, and cutter geometry should always be checked on a test piece.
| Door or Panel | Typical Opening | Raise Width | Expansion Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper wall door | 10 to 14 in wide, 20 to 30 in tall | 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 in | 1/8 in per side |
| Base cabinet door | 12 to 18 in wide, 24 to 32 in tall | 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 in | 1/8 in per side |
| Tall pantry door | 14 to 20 in wide, 36 to 50 in tall | 1-5/8 to 2 in | 3/16 in per side |
| Drawer front panel | 8 to 18 in wide, 5 to 10 in tall | 1 to 1-1/4 in | 1/16 to 1/8 in |
| Material | Movement Note | Profile Quality | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard maple | Moderate seasonal movement | Crisp with sharp cutters | Clear or painted doors |
| Red oak | Higher open-grain movement | Strong shadow lines | Traditional cabinets |
| Cherry | Moderate and stable when dry | Clean ogee or cove | Furniture-grade panels |
| MDF | Dimensionally steady | Good for paint, weak edges | Paint-grade doors |
| Profile | Common Raise | Angle Range | Edge Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight bevel | 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 in | 10 to 20 deg | Watch thin outside lips |
| Cove raise | 1-1/2 to 2 in | 12 to 25 deg | Leave a test shoulder |
| Ogee raise | 1-5/8 to 2-1/4 in | 15 to 30 deg | Needs thicker stock |
| Low Shaker bevel | 3/4 to 1-1/4 in | 5 to 12 deg | Good for thin panels |
| Stock Thickness | Practical Field | Suggested Raise | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 in | Small paint-grade panels | 3/4 to 1 in | Use low bevels only |
| 5/8 in | Light cabinet doors | 1 to 1-1/4 in | Check groove fit carefully |
| 3/4 in | Standard raised panels | 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 in | Most common cabinet stock |
| 7/8 in | Large furniture panels | 1-3/4 to 2-1/4 in | More room for deep profiles |
Raised panel cabinet doors is a type of cabinet door in which the center panel of the cabinet door is raise above the frame of the door. The frame of a raised panel cabinet door is flat, but the center panel slope upward toward the front of the door. The change in depth between the flat frame and the raised center panel of the cabinet door create shadows and highlights upon the surface of the raised panel cabinet door.
Should the measurement for a raised panel cabinet door be incorrect, the raised panel cabinet door may either bind to the frame of the cabinet when the humidity within the area are high, or the raised panel cabinet door may rattle within the cabinet when the air within the area is dry. In order to calculate the dimension required for a raised panel cabinet door, it is first necessary to understand four specific dimensions of the raised panel cabinet door. The first of these dimension is the opening size of the cabinet door, which is the size of the opening that the raised center panel will create in the cabinet door.
How to Measure and Build Raised Panel Cabinet Doors
The second dimension is the raise width of the cabinet door, which is the distance that the center panel will be raise from the frame of the cabinet door. The third dimension is the reveal size of the raised panel, which is the amount of the raise width that will be visible through the panel of the raised panel cabinet door. Finally, the fourth dimension is the expansion gap between the raised center panel and the frame of the raised panel cabinet door, which is the amount of clearance that will be provided between the two piece of wood to allow for expansion and contraction due to changes in humidity in the area.
The type of material from which the maker will make the raised panel cabinet door is another factor that will affect the movement of the raised panel. For instance, materials like hard maple and cherry will move less within the raised panel than materials like red oak. However, all wood species moves within the width of the raised panel.
For instance, a solid maple raised panel that is 16 inch in width may gain or lose more than an eighth of an inch in width within the panel each year. Thus, the expansion gap need to be calculated in relation to the width of the center panel of the raised panel cabinet door, as well as the species of the wood from which the raised panel is to be made. Tables of reference for different type of raised panel cabinet doors exist, which can help to ensure that the expansion gap is correctly calculate without having to make an educated guess as to the expansion gap that should be made between the raised panel and the frame of the cabinet door.
The profile that is selected for the raised panel will impact both the appearance of the raised panel, as well as the amount of material that will need to be remove from the raised panel to create that profile. Profiles such as straight bevels are easy to set up on a milling machine. Profiles such as cove or ogee profiles will create deeper shadows within the raised panel, but will remove more of the raised panel’s material to allow for the depth of those profile.
Calculators can be used to calculate the thickness of the raised panel’s edge after cutting the raised panel to the bevel angle; this calculation will allow the carpenter to ensure that the selected profile will leave enough material for the raised panel’s groove. Should the calculator’s estimate of the thickness leave the raised panel too thin for the selected profile, the raise width of the raised panel can be reduced, or the woodworker can make the raised panel from thicker pieces of wood. An additional calculation that should of been performed before raising the raised panel cabinet door’s center panel is the calculation of a waste allowance for the project.
Every cut that is made into the raised panel’s wood will create some waste, as will any defect in the wood’s grain. Thus, a waste allowance must be made for the thickness of the raised panel to account for this waste. Twelve to fifteen percent is a common waste allowance if the wood is clean and defect-free.
Twenty percent is a safer waste allowance if the wood is to be planed to match the grain of other raised panel cabinet door in the same cabinet. The calculator will add the waste allowance to the total number of board feet of the raised panel door. The remaining variable for a raised panel cabinet door include the thickness of the raised panel, the groove depth of the cutter that will be used to cut the raised panel door’s center panel, and additional variables related to imperial measurement and metric measurements.
Three-quarter-inch thick wood stock is the standard for raised panel cabinet doors; thinner stock is used for small drawer fronts, thicker stock is used for large raised panel cabinet door. The deeper the raised panel’s grooves, the more weight will be place upon the raised panel door, and the more cost will be associated with the creation of such a raised panel door. Prior to cutting the raised panel door’s center panel into position, it is important to ensure that the groove depth of the cutters are correct; it is possible that the actual depth of the grooves of the cutters will be different than the depth of the calculated capture depth of the raised panel door.
Thus, a test piece should be created with the same type of raised panel door cutters that will be used for the actual raised panel cabinet doors. If the depth of the groove of the cutter does not match the theoretical depth of the capture of the raised panel’s center panel, then the size of the center panel should be adjusted before the raised panel is cut from the wood. The calculator that is provided allow for raised panel cabinet door dimensions to be calculated in both imperial and metric units.
A toggle switch allows for the units to be changed from imperial to metric, or metric to imperial. This toggle switch will not impact any of the mathematical relationship for the dimensions of the raised panel cabinet door, and the formula for calculating the capture depth of the raised panel of the raised panel cabinet door will remain the same, regardless of whether the door is measured in inches and fraction of inches, or in centimeters and fraction of centimeters. Finally, the raised panel cabinet door calculator allow the user to view the impact that each of the variables impacts the raised panel cabinet door.
Variables such as the opening size of the door, the raise width of the door, the size of the reveal of the door, the expansion gap of the door, the angle of the raised panel’s cuts, the thickness of the raised panel, and the waste allowance of the raised panel can all impact the final appearance of the raised panel cabinet door. Each of these variable may impact each of the other variables of the raised panel cabinet door. Thus, any change to one of the variables of the raised panel cabinet door will automatically change the other variables; these changes can be viewed prior to cutting the raised panel door’s center panel, which ensures that the raised panel cabinet doors will both fit within the cabinet doors, and will move in an appropriate manner when the humidity within the area change.
Its actualy a lot of work to get the dimensions right. Youll need to be careful with the furnitures you use. The moddern look depends on it.
