Wizard example
Single cabinet
A frameless base cabinet for a 30" space: 34 1/2" high and 24" deep, a toe kick notched into the sides, two stretchers across the top, one adjustable shelf and two overlay doors. You bring the space and the stock; the wizard asks the rest and works out every part.
Open this example Opens in the planner as your own copy, named Single cabinet (example), with the wizard's answers and the cut list already made. Nothing you change touches this page, and the copy doesn't count toward the 3 projects Free keeps.
The space
A 30" wide spot against a wall, filled wall to wall by one cabinet. That is all the wizard needs to begin: what you are building (Cabinets), the run width (30) and how the run fits (Wall to wall). The height and depth come with the cabinet itself, 34 1/2 × 24, the usual size for a base cabinet.
The decisions
Each one is a wizard answer. Most were already filled in with a sensible value; these are the ones that make this cabinet.
- Stock. 3/4" birch plywood for the carcass and the doors, 1/4" birch plywood for the back. The wizard works from each sheet's actual thickness: a 3/4" sheet is 23/32".
- Construction: frameless. The doors cover the front edges of the sides.
- Top: two stretchers, 4" wide, front and back, instead of a full top panel. A countertop goes on later.
- Back: in a rabbet along the back edge of each side.
- Toe kick: notched into the sides, 4" high and 3" back, so the bottom sits raised above the floor.
- Shelves: one adjustable shelf on shelf pins.
- Fronts: two doors, overlay, made from the front stock. The wizard fills in each overlay to cover the side less half the reveal, and hinges one door on the left and one on the right.
- Joinery: the bottom in a dado in each side, the back in a rabbet, both 3/8" deep, and the stretchers pocket-screwed into the sides. These are the Joinery step's first answers, kept as they are.
Step back through the wizard
Open the example, then choose Edit design in the top bar (on a phone it is in the More menu, the ⋯ button). The wizard opens on its last step, Review, with every answer in place. The steps sit above it, each with a one-line summary: 1 What are you building, 2 Stock, 3 Sections, 4a Cabinet 1 (the cabinet's own questions), 5 Joinery and 6 Review. Tap any step to open it and see the answer that made each number.
Change an answer and the drawings follow as you type: beside the steps on a wide screen, or below them under Drawings on a phone. Generate cut listPro makes the parts again and lays them out on the sheets. If you have moved or changed parts by hand since, the wizard asks first: Keep my changes updates the sizes and leaves your layout, Find the best layout again starts the layout over. Back to planner closes the wizard; your answers are kept, and no part changes until you press Generate cut list.
Free can open every example and look through all of its answers; changing a wizard example and generating it again is Pro.
The cut list
Every part the wizard made, grouped by size and material as the planner lists it, then the install notes: where each part goes and how it joins its neighbours.
| Part | Size (L × W) | Qty | Material | Grain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back | 30 3/16 × 29 5/16 | 1 | 1/4" Birch plywood | Any |
| Side | 34 1/2 × 24 | 2 | 3/4" Birch plywood | Along length |
| Bottom | 29 5/16 × 23 3/4 | 1 | 3/4" Birch plywood | Any |
| Adjustable shelf | 28 1/2 × 23 3/4 | 1 | 3/4" Birch plywood | Any |
| Door | 30 3/8 × 14 7/8 | 2 | 3/4" Birch plywood | Along length |
| Stretcher | 28 9/16 × 4 | 2 | 3/4" Birch plywood | Any |
Install notes
- Cabinet 1, left side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
- Cabinet 1, right side. Dado for the bottom; rabbet along the back edge for the back.
- Cabinet 1, bottom. Sits in a dado in both sides, raised 4" for the toe kick.
- Cabinet 1, front stretcher. Pocket screws into both sides, flush with the top.
- Cabinet 1, back stretcher. Pocket screws into both sides, flush with the top.
- Cabinet 1, bay 1, adjustable shelf. Rests on shelf pins.
- Cabinet 1, back. Sits in the rabbet.
- Cabinet 1, bay 1, door 1. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the left.
- Cabinet 1, bay 1, door 2. Full overlay: covers 21/32" on the left, 21/32" on the right; 1/8" reveal. Hinges on the right.
The sheets
The parts nested with Max yield, a 1/8" kerf left open between them. The grain arrow marks the parts locked to the grain: the sides and the doors, so it runs up the cabinet.
The drawings
The wizard draws the cabinet as you answer: the front, a section through the side that shows the toe-kick notch, and the plan. They print with the shop report.
Build order
- Break down the plywood, following the sheet layouts, and tick each part off in Cut mode as it comes off the saw.
- Cut the toe-kick notch at the bottom front corner of each side, 4" high and 3" deep. Make the sides a mirrored pair.
- Cut the dado for the bottom and the rabbet for the back in each side, from the install notes, then drill the shelf-pin holes on the inside faces.
- Glue the bottom into its dadoes, then pocket-screw the two stretchers between the sides, flush with the top.
- Measure the diagonals and square the box, then fit the back into the rabbets and fasten it.
- Set the cabinet in its space, level it, and screw through the back stretcher into the wall.
- Hang the doors, the left one hinged on the left and the right one on the right, and adjust the hinges until the reveal between them is even. Set the shelf on its pins.
Make it yours
Open the cabinet, choose Edit design and change the width to fit your own space. The how-tos walk through the wizard and the 3D view.