Building MDF doors in Mozaik means choosing a door style — slab, routed one-piece, or 5-piece — then defining its profile in the Doors library, attaching a CNC panel tool group, and driving the recess and tool paths with formulas so the door stays parametric. You can build every profile by hand, or start from Phill Anton Consulting's 34 pre-configured MDF door profiles — downloadable files you import straight into Mozaik 14 with the tooling, recesses, and templates already wired up.
What is an MDF door in Mozaik?
An MDF door in Mozaik is a door (or drawer front, or end panel) whose profile is machined on your CNC from MDF rather than assembled from solid-wood parts. Mozaik stores each profile in the Doors library, ties it to a CNC panel tool group that holds the real bits and cut depths, and uses formulas (referencing reserved variables like PartL, PartW, and Tomm = 25.4) so a single profile resizes to any door. Because the door is described parametrically, what you see in Mozaik's 3D viewer is what the router cuts — as long as your tool geometry matches your physical tools.
Slab vs 1-piece vs 5-piece doors — which should you use?
There are three ways to make an MDF door, and they differ mostly in labor and finishing:
- Slab — a flat panel you cut to size and edge band. No painting step, so it moves through the shop fastest. Phill Anton Consulting recommends slab for most closet work because the library can pre-bore drawer-box holes and place fasteners on the back automatically.
- 1-piece (routed) — a single MDF blank with the door profile machined into the face on the CNC (a shaker face, a bead, a custom grid). One blank, one finishing pass.
- 5-piece — built from separate stiles, rails, and a center panel like a traditional cope-and-stick door, with a rabbet to hold the panel.
The trade-off is shop time vs. look: slab is lowest-labor; 1-piece and 5-piece give a more traditional appearance. PAC's guidance is to supply slab when you can and buy out 1-piece or 5-piece when the design demands them. See Slab vs 1-piece vs 5-piece doors: in-house vs buyout.
How do you set up pre-configured MDF doors in Mozaik?
The fastest path is to import a ready-made profile. After unzipping PAC's download (door files, panel tool groups, a data sheet), open Mozaik without opening a job, go to Optimizer → Libraries → CNC tooling → panel tool groups, and Import the matching panel tool group. The group ships with generic placeholder tools so importing it never overwrites your real tool data — you then swap each generic for your own bit. Import the door files under Doors → routed, build a reusable template that ties the door to the panel tool group and your pocketing tool, then cut a sample door to verify tool heights before running a batch. See Set up pre-configured MDF doors in Mozaik.
Why do MDF door profiles use a CNC panel tool group?
A panel tool group is the heart of every MDF door profile in Mozaik. Instead of attaching a single bit and depth to each tool path, you attach the path to a group; then you can change the tool or the cut depth in one library location and it updates everywhere. That is why PAC's profiles ship as panel tool groups with generic tools — you replace the generics once with your real bits and every door that uses the group is correct. If a bead or edge looks wrong, you adjust the tool's offset in the group (the field works like a calculator), but the first thing to check is always whether your tool heights on the CNC are right. See Set up pre-configured MDF doors in Mozaik.
How do you add a rabbet to a 5-piece door panel?
For a 5-piece door, the center panel needs a rabbet so it seats into the frame. In Mozaik you edit the 5-piece door's panel, open its Operations, hit Flip, and add a perimeter Tool Path with a down-shear bit. Drive the rabbet width with formulas on the X/Y points (e.g. an offset like 0.125 * Tomm) and set the depth with a panel-thickness formula (e.g. DoorPanel.th − 0.25 * Tomm) so it leaves the right amount of material on any panel thickness. Keep every point on a formula — points show blue when parametric, and clicking and dragging one loses the formula. See Add a rabbet to 5-piece door panels in Mozaik.
How do you add vertical seams or vent holes to an MDF door?
Mozaik lets you machine decorative detail into a one-piece door and keep it parametric:
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Faux vertical (or horizontal) rail seams — copy a door variation, edit the panel's operations, and add open tool paths positioned with formulas (e.g.
2.5*mmin from each edge). Attach a panel tool group carrying a shallow V-groove tool so you can re-tune depth and tool from one spot, then mirror the lines withPartL −/PartW −formulas. See Faux rail seams on MDF doors in Mozaik. - Elliptical "petal" vent holes — Mozaik can't draw a true ellipse, so you approximate each petal with four points plus a bulge, drive the pattern from user parameters added to the construction method, and machine it as a pocket (which clears the center so no loose puck breaks a bit). Use a tool with enough cutting-edge length to clear the full door thickness. See Parametric elliptical vent holes in Mozaik MDF doors.
How do you build a custom door profile from scratch?
For a fully custom profile — like a mullion glass door — you add user parameters (mullion width, square dimension, stile/rail width, bulge) to a construction method's Job Parms, then build the door as a routed door and drive every closed tool path point with formulas referencing those parameters. Build one corner, then mirror the rest with PartL −/PartW − and rotate points by swapping X/Y and swapping stile width for rail width. Change one parameter and the whole door redraws. It's an intermediate technique, but it's how every reusable profile in a library is born. See Custom mullion door: intermediate formula secrets.
How do you fight warp with a full back pocket?
MDF doors with near-full-face machining (like a slim shaker) can warp, and a plain back route doesn't always control it. A full back pocket is a shallow pocket machined into the back face to relieve surface tension. In Mozaik you build it parametrically — near edges at 2.25*Tomm, far edges at PartL−(2.25*Tomm) and PartW−(2.25*Tomm) — set the pocket inside out and clockwise, and assign the tool group to the top face (counterintuitively, that's where the back-face pocket operation displays). Then run it as a flip operation. See Add a full back pocket to MDF doors in Mozaik.
How do you add a new profile to an existing door library (Frost inset)?
To add a different profile to a face-frame library (like Mozaik's Frost inset), recreate the double door, the base end panel, and a matching CNC tool group for your profile. The two gotchas: copied doors have frozen pocket depths — reset the part and re-enter the recess instead of just editing the field — and when the new profile's stile/rail width differs (e.g. an inside bead at 2-5/8 vs a shaker at 2-1/4), add the difference to the margins rather than rebuilding. See Add a new Frost inset door profile in Mozaik.
The full MDF-door how-to index
Every focused guide that feeds this pillar:
Setup & profiles — Set up pre-configured MDF doors · Add a Frost inset door profile · Custom mullion door formula secrets
Door types — Slab vs 1-piece vs 5-piece · Add a rabbet to 5-piece door panels
Detailing & machining — Faux rail seams · Elliptical vent holes · Full back pocket
Designing closets too? See the sibling pillar Closet design in Mozaik for cabinetmakers. Want the bigger picture on PAC? About Phill Anton Consulting.
Get it done-for-you
You can build every MDF door profile by hand using the guides above. If you make MDF doors regularly, Phill Anton Consulting's 34 pre-configured MDF door profiles ship the door files, panel tool groups, recesses, and templates ready to import into Mozaik 14 — so you download, swap in your real tools, and cut, instead of building each profile from scratch.
Full disclosure: Phill Anton Consulting makes this product.
FAQ
How do you make MDF doors in Mozaik?
Build (or import) a door profile in the Doors library, attach a CNC panel tool group that holds the real bits, set the panel recess and tool paths with formulas, then assign the door in a job template and cut a sample to verify tool heights. You can do slab (one-piece), routed one-piece with a machined face, or 5-piece doors. Phill Anton Consulting's 34 pre-configured MDF door profiles ship this already wired for Mozaik 14.
What is the difference between slab, 1-piece, and 5-piece doors in Mozaik?
A slab door is a flat panel you cut and edge band with no painting. A 1-piece (routed) door is a single MDF blank with the profile machined into its face on the CNC. A 5-piece door is built from separate stiles, rails, and a center panel, like a traditional cope-and-stick door. Phill Anton Consulting recommends slab for most closet work and buying out 1-piece or 5-piece when the design calls for them.
How do you add a new door profile in Mozaik?
Copy an existing door in the Doors library, rename it with a clear convention, then edit the panel: reset frozen pocket depths, set the panel recess, drive the perimeter and pocket points with formulas (PartL, PartW, Tomm = 25.4), and attach a matching CNC panel tool group. Adjust margins for any stile/rail width difference rather than rebuilding. PAC's 34 MDF door profiles come pre-built so you skip this.
Why use a CNC panel tool group for MDF doors?
A panel tool group lets you change the cutting tool and the cut depth in one library location instead of editing every tool path on every door. It also keeps the door's appearance honest: what you see in Mozaik is what the router cuts, as long as the tool geometry matches your real bits. PAC's pre-configured profiles ship with panel tool groups already set, using generic placeholder tools so importing them never overwrites your tool data.