Upper Corner Cabinet Dimensions

For his first time building one, a cabinetmaker gets help figuring out an upper corner cabinet with a lazy Susan. September 23, 2006

Question
I have my first kitchen with an upper corner cabinet with a 45 degree face. I plan to use the 20" diameter lazy susan from Rev-a-Shelf in this cabinet and want to make sure I size it correctly. When sizing the opening of these cabinets, should I just make the box opening something like 20-1/2" wide, keeping the side walls the same depth as the adjacent upper cabinets - 12"? Is there an argument for making the opening wider or narrower than the 20"? I'm thinking that extra volume inside that box might be bad since there's more space for things to fall off the susan and get lost in there. If I made the opening narrower than the overall width of the susan I suppose I'd have to install the susan before assembling the box, but then it may be impossible to remove it should it fail someday.

Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor A:
Since you say this is your first diagonal wall cabinet, you may or may not realize how sizing the opening works. If you have a wall cabinet that is say 24" in width by 12" in depth your opening is going to be somewhere around 17". The only way to change the opening size is to change either the width, or the depth, or both. If you already understood that, then I might have misunderstood the question. Either way I strongly recommend drawing out your cabinet footprint full scale to see how it will turn out.

As for the lazy susan, I have never used one in a top cabinet. I believe they are the same as the base units though. They are installed after the cabinet is built, and assembled in the cabinet, which means your opening does not need to be 20" to install.


From contributor B:
Whenever you try something new, make a sample of what you are doing. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of the lazy susan and then draw the cabinet on a piece of plywood. If you do it this way you can make adjustments without actually building the cab. I have also done this when I wasn't sure if I could get a cab into the house. I made a footprint of it to see if it would fit and it saved me a lot of grief.

From contributor C:
If you build your box 24 x 24 then you will end up with approximately a 16-1/2" door. A 20" lazy susan will fit comfortably within that. The lazy susan breaks down so that you could feasibly install it through an 8" opening (but don't). At the very least, install your top and bottom plates before assembly. When in doubt, do a full scale plan drawing; and save it for next time.


From contributor D:
Contributor A is correct. The angled face frame should be 17". The cabinet will fill a 24" space from each corner. The lazy susan will be assembled after the cabinet is built. I usually don't even install the lazy susan until the cabinet has been installed.

From the original questioner:
Thanks. I was planning to draw it in Autocad just to be sure my clearances between the susan and cabinet walls are what I'd like. 24 x 24 overall dimensions are what I've seen elsewhere, and the 16.5 - 17" door width seems attractive. I will definitely mock it up first before cutting up the parts.
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