Building codes and accepted design practices like to stress accessibility and the wrong height is the one aspect that can make a base cabinet inaccessible.
Base cabinet face frame dimensions.
Above the bottom shelf of the cabinet.
Note that your carcass is 1 2 less in overall width than your desired finished cabinet dimensions.
Base cabinet height.
Base cabinet height is the dimension that is least variable virtually all base cabinets come from the factory at 34 1 2 inches tall.
For face frames attached with pocket holes also drill 3 4 phs facing forward for attaching face frames in later steps on underside of bottom shelf.
Begin with the right cabinet dimensions.
The 3 4 plywood case eliminates panel jointing planing and glue ups.
Build the face frame so that the bottom rail rails are horizontal boards and stiles are vertical boards projects 1 16 in.
For example a front frame can be ordered 36 w x 96 h or 96 w x 36 h but not 96 w x 96 h.
Framed cabinets are the more traditional style of american built cabinets.
Overlaps on the sides let you fine tune the cabinet width during installation.
The hinges on framed cabinets are installed on the frame and the cabinet door sits on the outside of the face frame.
They feature a frame around the face of the cabinet similar to a picture frame or you can imagine a front panel with a space cut out of it.
The sample base and wall cabinets shown below have these features to make building them as simple as possible.
Maximum front frame sizes are 96 in one direction and 48 in the other direction.
The bottom rail is almost always 1 1 4 to 1 1 2 inches in width.
Face frames cover plywood edges.
On the outside edge.
Standard stile rail dimensions for face frames is 1 1 2.
Framing wider than 4 1 2 may have one glue joint.
Question in the past i have been building exclusively overlay face frame cabinets but lately i have been getting some inset door jobs.
Individual face frame rails vary in width from the top of the cabinet to the bottom.
Assembled frames sanded on front only with 220 grit paper.
Please note that assembled face frames will have a size tolerance of 1mm on the overall sizes and 1mm within each opening.
Assembled face frames are only grain and color matched on the faces.
Face frames on sides of kitchen cabinets should overlap 1 4 in.
All natural wood characteristics are acceptable on the inside edges.