My uncle swore by a 3/4 inch reveal for inset doors, and I finally get it.

He told me 'it frames the piece like a picture' in his shop in Boise, and after trying a tighter gap on a maple dresser, the visual weight just looked off. Anyone else have a go-to reveal measurement they stick to?

3 comments

3 Comments

moore.beth1mo ago

Frames the piece like a picture" is such a good way to put it. My dad always said the gap should be the width of a nickel. He'd actually test it with one. Worked for him in his garage for forty years.

claire_davis311mo ago

Actually a nickel is closer to 1/16 of an inch, not a 3/4 inch reveal. That's a huge difference in woodworking. A 3/4 inch gap around an inset door would look like a mistake, not a frame. Maybe your uncle meant 3/32 of an inch? That's a common reveal size and would make way more sense for a clean look on furniture.

morgan_king361mo ago

My old shop teacher in Tacoma always said the reveal should match the shadow line from your overhead lights. He'd turn off the fluorescents and use a single work light to check. A 1/8 inch gap can practically vanish under bright light, but it gives you that perfect dark line in normal room light. It's less about a fixed number and more about how the light and shadow work in the space where the piece will live. That changed how I plan all my gaps now.