How to Set Up Drawer Guides in Mozaik – Phill Anton Consulting

Q: Why would I set a drilling depth of only a couple of millimeters?

A very shallow depth lets the operation simply peck the side of the drawer box, leaving a starter point for wood screws to bite into when attaching the guide — rather than drilling a through hole.

To set up drawer guides in Mozaik, open Libraries > Hardware > Guides; keep ordinary slides on the original Standard setup, and switch to the Advanced guide option (added in version 12.3) when a slide needs more than the basics. Advanced guides let you add extra mounting holes, mix hole sizes, box-bore into the drawer side, build four-hole spacer blocks, or cut custom fastener tool paths — you enter each drilling operation by hand from your hardware manufacturer's spec book, then test-cut before production.

This guide follows Mozaik's official walkthrough. Watch the original video on Mozaik's channel:

You can also reference Mozaik's official video directly while you follow along.

When should you use a Standard guide vs. an Advanced guide?

If your guides are already built as Standard guides and they work, leave them alone. The Standard setup is the original way Mozaik has always handled guides and it's still the right choice for typical slides.

Switch to an Advanced guide when the slide calls for something the Standard setup can't do, such as:

An unlimited number of mounting holes per guide
Different hole diameters on the same guide (for example, most holes at one size and a couple larger so a plastic dowel can be fitted for a wood screw)
Box boring (drilling into the side of the drawer box)
Spacer blocks that need four holes instead of two
Custom fastener operations like tool-path cutting for specialty guides

How do you create a new Advanced guide?

Go to Libraries tab > Hardware > Guides tab (the Guides tab is on the right). Add a new guide, give it a clear name, and turn on the Advanced feature. In the open area at the top-left you can load a JPEG image of the guide to display in the Settings tab later.

Set the guide type to match the slide:

Side mount — Mozaik measures from the outside of the box to the inside of the cabinet.
Under mount — Mozaik measures from the inside of the drawer box to the inside of the cabinet (the type setting simply moves the reference arrow to the inside of the drawer box).

It's easiest to work in millimeters when entering guide data, then type in the values pulled directly from the manufacturer's spec book. Pay attention to the clearance from the stretcher to the bottom of the drawer box — that clearance is critical to every elevation you enter.

How do you add side boring (holes in the cabinet side)?

In the guide's advanced settings, click the green plus sign to open the specialty guide editor, then add a side-boring operation. Click the green plus again to add your first operation, and set these fields for each hole:

Side — Left, Right, or Both (which side of the cabinet to drill).
Reference — the datum the elevation is measured from: box bottom, box center, or box top. (Referenced from center on a 4″-tall box, a hole would land at 2″.)
Elevation — height from your chosen reference to the hole.
Inset — distance from the front of the cabinet to the hole.
Depth and Diameter — the bore depth and bit size.

Once the first hole is right, use Copy and Paste to duplicate it, then change only the inset for each additional hole. To mix hole sizes, change the diameter on the holes that need it — for example, leave most at the standard diameter and bump a couple to a larger size so a plastic dowel can be installed. You can stack operations and add as many holes as the guide requires.

Finish the part by entering its part number, a description, and the guide length/depth, which corresponds to the depth of the drawer box you'll pair with this guide.

How do you box-bore into the drawer box itself?

Box boring drills attachment holes in the side of the drawer box so the slide can be screwed to it. In the specialty guide editor, add operations the same way (green plus), choosing the left, right, or both sides of the drawer box and a box bottom / center / top reference.

A useful trick from the video: set a shallow depth (around 2 mm) with a small bit (a 3 mm bit in the example) so the operation just pecks the drawer-box side — leaving a starter point for wood screws to bite into rather than drilling all the way through. Copy and paste the operation, then adjust each inset from the spec sheet.

What is "through bore from flip" and why does it matter?

When you bore into one side of a part, those holes can end up as a flip-side operation — meaning your CNC runs the part on one side and then has to flip it to peck the holes on the other side. To avoid the flip, open the box-bore operation in the specialty guide editor and check through bore from flip for each operation. You don't change the hole depth for this; it bores through based on your material thickness.

If you'd rather the through-bored holes not be visible to your customer, you can hide them inside the dado: go to Libraries > Drawer Boxes, select the drawer box (the example uses the Mozaik side-mount drawer box), and adjust the recess (set to 3/4″ in the video) so the holes sit in the middle of the dado instead of showing on the drawer side.

How do you set up spacer blocks (including four-hole blocks)?

On the guide, check the use tray spacers option, then open the specialty guide editor and go to the Spacers tab. Add an operation (plus sign) and set the side and reference just like side boring (box bottom / center / top), then the elevation and inset to position the spacer's center point.

For the hole pattern on the block, left-click the operation's center to open the part guide editor, where you can:

Turn on show grid and set a grid spacing, and use snapping so operations snap to the grid.
Set each hole's X and Y values, diameter, and depth to build the pattern (for a four-hole block, copy the first hole and mirror the X/Y values).

Then copy the finished spacer and change the inset for each one — match these inset values to your side-boring insets. The number of spacer blocks comes from the spec (in the video, a 21″ guide called for three blocks). With this you can attach a block with four holes instead of two plus an extra wood screw. Verify your system screw length so the screws suit the spacer blocks. Mozaik also pulls the block off the hinge automatically based on the library parameters you've set for tray-door clearance.

How do you set up a fastener with a custom tool path?

For specialty slides that need a cut rather than a hole, add a guide in the Fastener category and set up tool paths. After placing the operation's elevation and inset, left-click to open the editor and add an open tool path: delete the extra points so you're left with two, then set the start and end points (for a straight cut keep Y = 0 on both and set the entry/exit X values). Set the depth, choose the tool, and choose whether to ramp (in the video a specialty slot cutter has its ramping set to zero — "do not ramp"). You can add a second tool path at a greater depth so the cut is made in passes (for example, a shallow pass at 4.5 mm followed by a deeper one at 9 mm). Copy and paste the finished operation and change each inset for the additional positions.

When entering an under-mount fastener referenced from the box bottom, remember to add the distance between the stretcher and the drawer-box bottom into your elevation.

How do you check the guide on a real cabinet?

Bring the finished Advanced guide into the Settings tab, pair it with the matching drawer/tray box (build boxes in increments that match your guides), open the product in the editor, and use View Product. Use the 2D/3D and perspective views, and the Product Layers panel to turn layers off so you can inspect just the drawer boxes or ends. You can also open the Parts tab, double-click a drawer side, and choose Edit Operations to see exactly where the holes land — a part shown green has operations on both sides (a flip), so this is how you confirm "through bore from flip" fixed the flip.

Always run a test cut on a cabinet before production — for any hardware you build or any hardware Mozaik ships pre-built — so you can make adjustments before you're in full production.

Related guides

Get it done-for-you

You can set this up yourself using the steps above. If you'd rather skip the setup, PAC's Mozaik training and done-for-you libraries can help — phillanton.com.

Full disclosure: this guide is published by Phill Anton Consulting.

FAQ

What's the difference between a Standard and an Advanced guide in Mozaik?

Standard is the original guide setup and is fine for typical slides — if your guides already work as Standard, leave them as-is. Advanced (added in version 12.3) lets you add an unlimited number of mounting holes, mix hole diameters, box-bore the drawer box, build four-hole spacer blocks, and create custom fastener tool-path operations.

How does Mozaik measure a side-mount vs. an under-mount guide?

For a side mount, Mozaik figures from the outside of the box to the inside of the cabinet. For an under mount, it figures from the inside of the drawer box to the inside of the cabinet. Setting the type just moves the reference arrow accordingly.

Why would I set a drilling depth of only a couple of millimeters?

A very shallow depth lets the operation simply "peck" the side of the drawer box, leaving a starter point for wood screws to bite into when attaching the guide — rather than drilling a through hole.

How do I stop a drawer-box hole from showing on the finished drawer?

Set the operation to through bore from flip so it bores through based on material thickness, then adjust the drawer box's recess (in Libraries > Drawer Boxes) so the holes sit in the middle of the dado and aren't visible when the customer pulls out the drawer.