How to Add Back-of-Cabinet Boring in Mozaik – Phill Anton Consulting

To add boring to the back of a cabinet in Mozaik, double-click the product to open the Product Editor, go to the Shape tab, select the back panel, and turn on its shelf-hole boring. From there you can choose whether to bore the center row too, and fine-tune where the holes land by editing the back part's operations. This gives wide adjustable shelves an extra point of mid-span support so they don't sag.

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

When you'd want boring on the back panel

Adjustable shelves normally rest on shelf pins set into boring on the cabinet ends. On a wide cabinet, that leaves a long unsupported span across the middle of the shelf. Adding a row (or rows) of shelf-pin boring on the back panel gives the shelf an extra point of support so it carries weight without sagging.

In the source video, the example is a cabinet above a sink that's 42 inches wide — wide enough that the maker wanted extra mid-span support for the adjustable shelves. (The cabinet in the example uses a 3/4-inch back.)

Step 1 — Open the product in the editor with the viewer up

Double-click the cabinet to bring it into the Product Editor. It helps to slide the editor over to the right and keep the 2D/3D viewer open so you can watch the boring appear and confirm it as you go. A good habit when modifying any cabinet in Mozaik is to work with the viewer visible.

At this point you'll typically see boring already on the cabinet ends (side/end boring) for the adjustable shelves, and none yet on the back.

Step 2 — Turn on shelf-hole boring for the back

Breadcrumb: Shape tab > select the back panel > Adjust Side > Bore Shelf Holes > OK

Go to the Shape tab.
Select the back of the cabinet (on the right you'll see the panel's side properties for the selected back).
Open Adjust Side, choose Bore Shelf Holes, then click OK.

When you accept, Mozaik adds the shelf-pin boring directly to the back panel — you'll see the new holes appear in the viewer.

Step 3 — Decide whether to bore the center row

The same Adjust Side setting lets you control the center boring:

Choosing Center removes the extra boring lines to the left and right of center, leaving just the centered row.
Un-checking the center option lets Mozaik populate the full set of boring for the shelves (the side rows), not only the center.

Toggle this based on how many points of support you want across the back of the shelf, and watch the viewer update so you get exactly the pattern you're after.

Step 4 — Control the third (center) row with a product parameter

Breadcrumb: Parameters tab > Product Parameter > Boring category > Bore for Third Row of Holes

There's also a parameter that governs whether a third row of holes (the center hole) gets added:

Go to the Parameters tab and open the Product Parameter list.
In the Boring category, find the parameter Bore for Third Row of Holes.
It works together with a minimum part width value (in the example, set to 30 inches). If the back part is wider than that minimum, the third (center) row is applied automatically.

Set this parameter to No if you only want the left and right rows bored, with no center row — useful when the back isn't wide enough to need three rows, or when you simply prefer two.

Step 5 — Move the boring to where you want it on the back

If the default boring lands too close to the edges of the cabinet, you can reposition it by editing the back part's operations.

Breadcrumb: Parts tab > double-click the UB back part > Edit Operations > lasso the holes > right-click > Move (X / Y)

Go to the Parts tab and double-click the UB back part to open the part editor.
Choose Edit Operations.
Zoom in on a row of boring and lasso it with the mouse so the operations highlight.
Hover over a highlighted operation, right-click, and choose Move.
Set the distance you need:
- The Y distance is the vertical move. In the example, a row was shifted by -6 inches to pull it in from the edge.
- The X distance is the horizontal move. The other row was moved +6 inches.
Click OK, then OK again to confirm out of the editor.

When the viewer comes back up, your holes will be positioned where you want them — giving the adjustable shelves solid mid-span support.

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 services can help — phillanton.com.

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

FAQ

Why add boring to the back of a cabinet at all?

On wide cabinets, adjustable shelves supported only on the ends can sag in the middle. Shelf-pin boring on the back panel adds a mid-span point of support so the shelf holds its load.

How do I get just two rows instead of three on the back?

Use the Bore for Third Row of Holes parameter (Parameters tab > Product Parameter > Boring). Set it to No, and Mozaik will bore only the left and right rows. That third (center) row otherwise comes in automatically when the back part is wider than the parameter's minimum part width (30 inches in the example).

The holes are too close to the cabinet edges — can I move them?

Yes. Open the UB back part from the Parts tab, choose Edit Operations, lasso the boring you want to move, right-click and choose Move, then set the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) distances to shift the holes off the edge.