Cabinet Door Calculator

Convert face-frame or frameless openings into stile, rail, and panel cut sizes for single or paired doors, including overlay and tenon length.

1. Opening Size

Opening Width

Opening Height

Overlay (Per Side)

Door Type

2. Construction Specs

Stile/Rail Width

Tenon Length

Gap (Double Doors Only)

Cut List

1 Door

2 STILES 0" x 0"

2 RAILS 0" x 0"

PANEL 0" x 0"

Final Door Size: 0 x 0

From Opening Size to Stile, Rail, and Panel

Frame-and-panel doors start with the cabinet opening, not the pretty elevation sketch. Overlay doors grow past the opening by a set amount per edge; inset doors sit inside with a reveal you control at the hinges. Once overall door size is fixed, stile width and rail width set the panel opening, and tenon (or cope) length adds material back onto the rails so the joint still lands at full stile width.

How to use this calculator

Measure the clear opening width and height at the face frame or box.
Choose overlay per side (or 0″ for inset) and single vs double door.
Enter stile/rail widths and tenon length; read stile, rail, and panel sizes from the cut list and diagram.

Inset, overlay, and double-door gaps

Half-inch overlay is common on face frames; full overlay on frameless boxes often lands near ¾″–1¼″ depending on hinge cup and adjacent doors. For a pair, subtract a center gap (often ⅛″–¼″ plus any bumper) so the two leaves do not bind when the boxes are slightly out of square. Rail length equals the door width minus two stile widths, plus two tenon lengths—miss the tenons and your rails come out short for a traditional mortise-and-tenon or cope-and-stick setup.

FAQ

What overlay should I pick for inset doors?

Choose 0″ overlay. Set your reveal with hinge adjustment and consistent gaps around the door, typically about 1/16″–3/32″ per side.

How much center gap on double doors?

Start around ⅛″ total between leaves and adjust after dry-fitting. Hinge side and strike side reveals should match the rest of the run.

Does tenon length change the finished door size?

No. Tenons are hidden in the stile. They only change how long you cut the rails before joinery.

Are panel sizes for floating panels?

Yes—cut the panel to the opening with your usual expansion clearance in the groove. Do not glue the panel solid across the width in solid wood.

Where this fits in the workflow

Drawer Box Calculator Drawer boxes share the opening the doors were sized to.
Sheet Cut Planner Nest the resulting door and frame parts into sheets.
Screw & Drill Bit Chart Pick pilot and pocket screw sizes for the joinery.
Feet-Inch-Fraction Calculator for Carpentry Reveal and overlay maths in fractions rather than decimals.

Read the longer write-up

Cabinet Door Math: Overlay, Stile, Rail, and Tenon Turn an opening size into stile, rail, and panel cut lengths for inset or overlay doors — including double-door gaps and tenon length in the rail calculation.

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