Cabinet Terms Glossary: Six Words Worth Getting Right
Most cabinet jargon is harmless. These six are not, because each one decides a measurement, and getting the word wrong means getting a number wrong. Each page here gives you the plain definition, the number it sets, and where it shows up when you are actually building something.
The six terms
Why these six
Each of them is a word that sits directly on top of a measurement. Pick the wrong overlay and every front in the kitchen is the wrong size. Misread a reveal and the gaps go uneven in a way anybody can see from the doorway. Ignore the 32mm grid and hardware stops being interchangeable. Choose a Gola profile late and you size the fronts twice. Forget the edgebanding thickness and the finished panel comes out over size. Leave nothing to scribe and a square cabinet meets a wall that is not square, in front of the customer.
The definition is the fast answer. The guide behind each one is where the arithmetic lives, and every page here points at its guide rather than repeating it.
The guides behind them
| Overlay and reveal | Cabinet door overlay and reveals, explained: sizing a front from an opening, in both frameless and face frame |
|---|---|
| The 32mm system | The 32mm system explained: what the grid is, why it exists, and what drops into it |
| Gola | Gola handleless kitchens, explained: the shapes and the three ways to build with no pulls |
| Edgebanding | Edgebanding types and thickness: what each material is for and what to take off the part |
| Where the numbers land | Cabinet cut list calculator: how these decisions turn into part sizes and sheets |
A CabDesign glossary. Definitions are the fast answer; check every allowance against your own tooling and a scrap before cutting a run. Browse all guides.