Doors, drawers and fronts

Fronts are the part of the cabinet the client looks at every day, and the gaps between them are the part the client notices first. A reveal with no dimension is a question you handed to someone else. Usually that someone is holding a saw.

How a front meets the box

The AWS names the relationship between a door and its cabinet the "interface" and gives two styles (Section 10, 10.1, 8):

Style	Variants	What it looks like
Overlay	Flush overlay, reveal overlay, lipped	The front sits on the face of the box. Flush overlay covers it almost completely. Reveal overlay leaves a margin of box showing around each front. Lipped fronts are rebated so part of the thickness sits inside the opening
Flush inset	Frameless or face frame	The front sits inside the opening, flush with the box or frame face

"Flush overlay is the default for either frameless or face frame casework", except at exposed knuckle hinges, where reveal overlay is the manufacturer's option, and "the reveal shall be determined by the hinge overlay" (AWS 10.1, 8.3). So if a specification is silent on interface, the default is flush overlay, and your elevation should look like it.

The interface also picks the hinge. The AWS hinge guide places the butt hinge at "conventional flush with face frame" work, the European concealed hinge at work "without face frame and reveal or flush overlay", and the wraparound hinge at "flush and reveal overlay applications". At flush overlay, wraparound hinges "shall be let into the edge of the door to maintain proper gap tolerance" (rule 10.4.7, 8.10.2.6). The Woodwork Institute sample's specification sheet records the consequence as one line: NOTCH FOR HINGE: YES.

Gaps, by grade

The AWS gives a letter to each gap on a front elevation and a limit to each letter (rule 10.4.7, 25.3):

• A is the gap between two fronts.
• B is the gap between a front and the finished end or cabinet member beside it.
• C is the reveal between the top front and the countertop above.

Construction	A	B	C
Flush overlay, frameless	1/8" (3.2 mm) max	1/16" (1.6 mm) max	1/8" to 1/4" (3.2 to 6.4 mm), consistent across elevations
Reveal overlay, frameless	1/8" (3.2 mm)	Set by the hinge overlay	1/8" to 1/4" (3.2 to 6.4 mm)
Reveal overlay, face frame	1/8" (3.2 mm) max	As specified, indicated or agreed	1/4" to 1" (6.2 to 25.4 mm)
Inset, face frame	1/8" (3.2 mm) max	As specified, indicated or agreed

Each gap may vary uniformly by a grade-set amount: ±3/32" (2.4 mm) Economy, ±1/16" (1.6 mm) Custom, ±1/32" (0.8 mm) Premium. At laboratory countertops, C may reach 1" (25.4 mm) to allow for equipment. Fronts must also sit in one plane within 1/8" (3.18 mm) Economy, 1/16" (1.59 mm) Custom and 1/32" (0.79 mm) Premium, and edges must align within 1/16" (1.6 mm) Economy and 1/32" (0.8 mm) Custom and Premium (rules 25.1 and 25.2).

Look at the words "as specified, indicated or agreed". For face frame B and C, and for inset B and C, the standard gives no number. The number comes from your drawing, or from nowhere.

Worked example: fronts that close

Blum's Process 32 manual draws four front layouts for one 775 mm (30-1/2") frameless base cabinet. Every one closes to the box height:

Layout	Top reveal	Fronts and gaps, top down	Total
One door	10	765	775
Drawer over door	10	157 + 3 + 605	775
Three drawers	10	157 + 3 + 285 + 3 + 317	775
Four drawers	10	157 + 3 + 157 + 3 + 157 + 3 + 285	775

All dimensions in millimetres. The 3 mm (1/8") gap between fronts is the AWS "A" limit for flush overlay frameless. The 10 mm (3/8") top reveal sits above the AWS "C" range of 1/8" to 1/4" (3.2 to 6.4 mm) measured from the countertop's bottom edge, which is a reminder that Blum measures from the top of the cabinet side and the standard measures from the countertop. Your drawing has to say which. Across the width, the same arithmetic applies. Two 610 mm (24") boxes side by side with a 1/8" (3.2 mm) gap between doors give doors about 607 mm wide, with 1.6 mm split each side of the joint.

Write the sum on the elevation. A checker who can redo it catches an error in a minute. A shop that has to work it out will work it out differently.

Doors

What the standard requires of every door

• Core of particleboard or MDF. "Veneer, OSB, or lumber cores are not guaranteed against warping, telegraphing, or delamination" (rule 8.7).
• Core at least 11/16" (17.5 mm) thick (rule 8.3). Doors 1-3/8" (34.9 mm) or thicker fall under Section 9, doors (rule 8.5).
• Maximum cabinet door size 24" (610 mm) wide and 84" (2134 mm) high. "Larger doors are more susceptible to warp, which shall not be the responsibility of the manufacturer/installer" (rule 8.4).
• Stop silencers at top and bottom of the closing edge, Custom and Premium (rule 8.6).
• Glass, where used, clear laminated or tempered, with continuous removable stops on the inside only, or at least six glass clips per door (rule 8.9).
• Warp and twist no more than 1/16" (1.6 mm) per lineal foot at Economy, 3/64" (1.2 mm) at Custom and 1/32" (0.8 mm) at Premium, and never more than 1/4" (6.4 mm) in any single door (rule 26).

The size limit is where a designer's tall, wide door becomes a drafting problem. A 30" × 90" pantry door is outside both limits. The drawing either splits it, or shows it with a note that warp is outside the standard, or goes back as a question.

How many hinges

The AWS sets minimum hinge counts by door height (rule 8.10.2):

Door height	Minimum, Grade I hinges	Minimum, Grade II hinges
Under 40" (1016 mm)	2	2
40" to 48"	2	3
48" to 60"	3	3
60" to 80"	3	4
80" to 84"	3	5
Over 84" (2134 mm)	4	5, plus one for every 18" (457 mm) of height over 80"

The hinge maker's own chart may ask for more, by door weight and width. Use the larger number and cite both (chapter 15).

Inset doors

Inset work has no overlap to hide a tolerance. The standard adds three rules: a positive stop or hardware member acting as one; stops on both sides of the opening at Premium; and a rail, stretcher or partition behind paired doors below a drawer, Custom and Premium (rules 8.10.1.1). At face frame inset work, a bottom frame member is the manufacturer's choice at Economy and required at Premium (rule 27.6).

Slab, framed and profiled fronts

Slab (flush panel)

One piece of sheet material with a finished edge. The AWS draws its edge profiles: square edge with thin applied band, radius edge with thick applied band, square edge with thick applied band, square edge with inset band, lipped edge with inset band. Drawer fronts and false fronts are banded on all four edges, except when back-bevelled or solid wood (rule 27.2.5.1). Chapter 12 covers the band and the grain layout by grade.

Framed (stile and rail)

A frame of stiles and rails around a panel. The AWS rules (8.11):

• Solid lumber stiles and rails at least 2-1/2" (63.5 mm) wide and 3/4" (19 mm) thick, to ±1/32" (0.8 mm). Veneered or overlaid stiles and rails on MDF or particleboard core at least 3-1/2" (88.9 mm) wide.
• Stiles run the full height of the door. Rails, including top, cross and bottom rails, run between stiles, Custom and Premium.
• Doors over 60" (1524 mm) high get an intermediate rail.
• Grain runs vertical on stiles and horizontal on rails.
• At least 3/8" (9.5 mm) between hardware machining and a glass cut-out.
• Joinery is the manufacturer's choice at Economy, mating sticking glued under pressure at Custom, and "mortise and tenon, dowels or loose tenon glued under pressure" at Premium.
• Flat panels at least 1/4" (6.4 mm); raised panels at least 1/2" (12.7 mm). Edge-glued solid panels up to 13-3/4" (350 mm) wide across the grain at Economy and Custom; solid lumber panels not permitted at Premium, though solid lumber may rim a panel if mitred and glued.
• Every panel "shall have the freedom and room to expand and contract". Chapter 12 works the numbers: a 350 mm flat-sawn red oak panel moves about 5 mm between 6% and 10% moisture content.

Profiled

A profile is a shape run on an edge or applied as a moulding. The AWS treats sticking profiles as "the manufacturer's choice, unless specified otherwise" and applied mouldings as "spot glued and finish nailed" (rules 8.11.1.1, 8.11.2.7). So a profile the designer cares about needs a full-size detail or a named cutter. The residential submittal in hand shows the lighter version: a note, #4 MOULDING AT RAISED PANEL DOORS/DRWS TYP., pointing at a profile drawn once in section. That works only if the shop and the reviewer both know what "#4" is. Put the profile on a sheet, or on a schedule the set carries.

Drawers

The box

For wood casework, the AWS sets drawer box materials by grade (rule 10.4.5, 9.3.4):

Part	Economy	Custom	Premium
Sides, back, sub-front core	Solid wood, 7-ply hardwood plywood without core voids, MDO, MDF, particleboard	Solid wood, 7-ply plywood, MDF, particleboard	Solid wood or 7-ply plywood
Sides, minimum thickness	7/16" (11.1 mm)	15/32" (12 mm); 5/8" (16 mm) for boxes over 30" (762 mm) wide in particleboard or MDF
Bottom core	Veneer core plywood, tempered hardboard, or MDF		Veneer core plywood
Bottom, minimum thickness	13/64" (5.2 mm); 1/4" (6.4 mm) in MDF	The same, and 3/8" (9.5 mm) for boxes over 30" (762 mm) wide

Assembly rules (10.4.7, 7): bottoms plowed into sides and fronts or sub-fronts, glued or glue-blocked, with the plow at least 3/8" (9.5 mm) up from the bottom edge. Bottoms 1/2" (12.7 mm) or thicker need not be plowed into the front when the drawer runs on an integral metal side system. The box fits front to back within 2" (50.8 mm) of the interior depth, and fills the opening top to bottom "to the greatest extent possible, while remaining fully functional". Closing stops at the rear of both sides unless built into the slides. Joint types by grade are in chapter 13.

The drawer front is screwed to the sub-front with at least two screws at each end, no more than 1-1/2" (38.1 mm) from the inside corners of the box and no more than 12" (305 mm) apart (rule 7.13.2). Fronts match the cabinet doors, except where too small to allow a match (7.13.1).

The Woodwork Institute sample writes its whole drawer on four lines: 3/4" PARTICLEBOARD, JOINTS DOWEL W/ 8mm x 30mm WD DOWELS, 1/4" BOTTOM LET-INTO SIDE, BACK & SUB-FRONT, DRAWERS MOUNTED ON FULL-EXTENTION GUIDES. The residential submittal in hand uses one: BALTIC BIRCH DRAWERS WITH CLEAR FINISH ON 100LB FULL EXTENSION SLIDES. Both name material, finish and runner. Neither names the runner's make and model; the hardware schedule has to.

Worked example: sizing a box to a concealed runner

Concealed runners dictate the box. Blum's TANDEM plus BLUMOTION brochure sets the rules for its 563 series runner:

Blum rule	Value
Inside drawer width	Opening width minus 42 mm (1-21/32"), "must"
Drawer side thickness	16 mm (5/8") maximum
Outside width deduction from opening	10 mm for 16 mm sides; 12 for 15; 14 for 14; 16 for 13; 18 for 12
Bottom recess	13 mm (1/2")
Bottom clearance	14 mm (9/16")
Top clearance, minimum	7 mm (9/32")
Maximum drawer height	Opening height minus 21 mm (13/16")
Minimum inside drawer width	170 mm (6-11/16")
Static load capacity	100 lb

Take a frameless cabinet 600 mm wide with 19 mm sides. The opening is 600 − 2 × 19 = 562 mm. The inside drawer width is 562 − 42 = 520 mm. With 16 mm sides the outside width is 562 − 10 = 552 mm, and 520 + 2 × 16 = 552, so the two rules agree. With 1/2" (13 mm) sides the outside width is 562 − 16 = 546 mm, and 520 + 26 = 546. The inside width stays at 520 in both cases, because the runner sets it.

Now the AWS minimum meets the runner maximum. At Custom Grade, particleboard or MDF sides on a box over 30" (762 mm) wide must be at least 5/8" (16 mm) (rule 9.3.4.3.2.2.1). Blum's runner takes sides up to 16 mm. A 16 mm side meets both. A thicker side fails the runner; a thinner one fails the standard. That is the kind of conflict to settle on the drawing, before the parts are cut.

Blum also warns that "drawer side material thickness may vary", and asks for the measured thickness when calculating outside width. Put the measured value on the cut list, not the nominal.

Capacity

The AWS drawer slide guide gives the vocabulary for capacity and asks the designer not to over-specify (Section 10, drawer slide selection guide):

Characteristic	Options
Extension	Standard (all but 4"–6", 101.6–152.4 mm, extends); full extension; full extension with over-travel
Static load	50 lb residential and light commercial; 75 lb commercial; 100 lb heavy duty; over 100 lb extra heavy duty
Dynamic load	30 lb for 35,000 cycles, residential and light commercial; 50 lb for 50,000 cycles, commercial; 75 lb for 100,000 cycles, heavy duty
Removal	Passive or positive disconnect
Closing	Self closing from 2" (50.8 mm)

The standard's hardware rule adds a floor: ANSI/BHMA Grade 2 performance with dynamic load testing for a minimum of 50,000 cycles (rule 10.4.4, 8.1). File drawers need full extension slides and enough clear inside height for hanging folder tabs; legal-size file drawers take both legal and letter files (rule 10.4.7, 7.10). The capacity goes on the drawing because the load is the client's, and only the drawing knows what the drawer is for.

Handing

Handing is which side a door hinges on. It changes the boring on the door and the plate on the cabinet, so it changes two parts, often on two different machines. Both drawing sets in hand show a door's swing on the elevation as two dashed lines meeting at one edge. Neither set says in its legend which edge the point marks. Convention varies, so put a line in your general notes that says which, and then show handing on every door. A schedule that lists each door with its hinge side, hinge model and hinge count closes the question for good.

The standard adds that hinges are installed by the manufacturer, operate without binding, align horizontally where adjacent and exposed, and are self-closing or fitted with a catch at Custom and Premium (rule 8.10.2). Locking pairs need an elbow catch and a stop block on the inactive leaf (rule 8.10.3).

What a front elevation must show

1. Interface style, stated once and drawn consistently.
2. Every gap dimensioned or covered by a note: A, B and C, with the grade's tolerance.
3. A dimension string on every run that closes to the box, and a vertical string on every drawer bank that closes to the opening.
4. Door sizes checked against 24" × 84" (610 × 2134 mm), and hinge counts against height.
5. Handing on every door, with the convention stated.
6. Front type (slab, framed or profiled) with its edge or profile named or detailed.
7. Drawer box material, side and bottom thickness, joint, runner make and model, and load.
8. Grain direction and match on every veneered front (chapter 12).

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Sources

• Architectural Woodwork Standards, 2nd Edition, 1 October 2014, © AWI, AWMAC, WI, full text hosted by the Woodwork Institute. Section 10, printed pp. 288–291 (interface terminology, edge profiles, drawer slide and hinge selection guides), 297 and 302 (interface default), 303 (hardware rule), 306–307 (drawer box materials), 312–316 (drawers, doors, hinges, stile and rail, glass, sliding), 324–326 (gap and reveal tolerances, warp, wood casework edge rules, face frame inset). Superseded for jobs bid under later editions; see chapter 19. Primary (superseded edition).
• Blum, Inc., Process 32, drawing BUS0126, page 3, "Base cabinet door & drawer front heights", dated 21 Feb 2003, hosted by WOODWEB. Front heights, gaps and top reveal. Primary.
• Blum, TANDEM plus BLUMOTION: Premium Concealed Runners for Wood Drawers, brochure (copy hosted by the Woodwork Institute, woodworkinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Blum-Tandem-plus-Blumotion-Brochure.pdf), "Drawer and Cabinet Specifications" page for the 563 series. Inside width rule, side thickness, deductions, clearances, recess, maximum height, minimum width, static load. Primary.
• Woodwork Institute, Sample Shop Drawings, specification requirements sheet: hinge notch, drawer box lines. Document.
• A residential millwork submittal, 16 sheets, revision 0, section sheets 09 and 14: moulding note, drawer and slide note, swing lines. Not reproduced: live job. Document.

Left out for lack of a source I could open: a published handing convention (which edge the swing-line point marks), and any standard front heights other than Blum's.