Raised panel door with hand tools

It takes quite a bit of time to set up a shaper, so economies of scale come into play. The more doors that are made with each setup, the better. Other options such as a vertical panel raising bit in a large router table may be quicker for one, or even two doors. However, shapers produce a smoother, more finished and more chatter-free cut than any other milling method.

The power of the motor also means that fewer incremental cuts passes are required. Quality cutters such as the Freud UC door set come with thick carbide for long life, and they are designed with anti-kickback features that reduce inherent risks. Having a single manufacturer provide all of the cutters ensures a better fit, and being able to buy the UC set with different panel profiles offers some level of customization.

Dust collection is essential with a shaper. Because of its aggressive cutting ability, the machine produces vast quantities of shavings. Large panel raising cutters require slower speeds than the smaller stile and rail ones, so a two-speed shaper is pretty much essential.

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Search Go. Topics Cabinetry. Choosing Hardware. Dust Collection. Friends of Woodcraft. Getting Started with Woodworking. Make Something. Pen Kit Reference Chart. Press Releases. Resin Casting. Shop Talk. Woodcraft Magazine. If you'll paint your doors, substitute medium-density fiberboard MDF for the solid stock and birch-veneer plywood for a glass-smooth finish. After choosing your materials, pick a profile for the frame and raised panel.

Create your own, or get ideas from doors at your local home center. Or, try one of our shop-tested profiles shown below , any of which you can make using the techniques described here.

Base your door dimensions on the size of the cabinet opening. Don't cut them to length yet. For repetitive cuts, use a stop on your fence, as shown below.

You'll get more accurate results on repetitive miter cuts if you cut a matching miter on your stop. Cut part D to size.

Glue part D to part C, just hiding the outline. Clamp or weight the assembly, and set it aside. For safety reasons, mill the moldings parts E and F from a blank of stock, then rip off the molded edge.

Also, make sure the edges of the rails are perpendicular and not pressed tightly against the panel. After the assembly dries trim the door to final size making sure you trim equal amounts from opposite sides. Some outside edge profile cutters combine the edge profile and rabbit into a single cutting operation.

Some doors are made in pairs and installed in face frames with no divider between them. These are called double doors and allow for a wider opening than a single door. You must be logged in to post a comment. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL, Privacy Policy Designed using Unos Premium. Powered by WordPress. Username or Email Address. Remember Me. Contact Us. On: August 28, How to Make A Raised Frame and Panel Door Cabinets usually need a door or two and deciding on the style of the door can be make or break the appearance of the piece.

Check out all of their classes at Florida School of Woodwork The Parts of a Cabinet Door All raised panel doors are comprised of three components: Stiles — These are the vertical components. Two are required. They extend the full height of the door.

Rails — These are the horizontal components. They fit between the stiles. Panels — This is the field center of the door. One is required. Additional components can be added if the door is large, or for esthetic reasons. What is a Shaper What are the parts of a door cutter set A basic door cutter set consists of three cutters. There are many to choose from. This cutter is used on the ends of the rails to cut the mating profile.

A raised panel cutter. This can be a very large cutter due to the size of most raised panel profiles. Keep all the safety guards on your machine. A good set of stile and rail bits makes perfectly matching cuts, and there's no opportunity to "fudge" the joint in one direction or another once the cuts are made. If the height of the sticking profile bit and the coping aren't set correctly, the surfaces of the stiles and rails won't be flush when joint is assembled.

Rockler Router Bit Set-Up Jigs make setting the height of stile and rail bits almost impossible to get wrong. Each set up jig is cut at the optimum height with exactly matching sticking and cope profiles. You just adjust the height of the bit until it matches the profile of the jig and you're ready to start cutting. Cathedral and arched-top doors are the "top of the line" when it comes to raised panel doors.

But many intermediate woodworkers consider them out of their league. The truth is, making doors with curved top rails and panels is no more difficult than making any other type of door - provided you have the right equipment. Rockler's Cathedral Door Templates and Arched Door Templates make cutting perfectly shaped arched rails and cathedral style rails and panel quick and easy. Each set comes with matched rail and panel templates that cover a range of common cabinet door widths.

Keeping the stock flat against the surface of the router table and up tight against the router table fence while cutting the sticking profile is of primary importance. Feather boards are nothing new - they've been around for a very long time. But certain improvements over the years have made them easier to use and set up. The feather boards available as an accessory for Rockler Router Table Packages, for example, are designed to attach and adjust to the perfect position in a few seconds.

In many ways making the panel is the least challenging part of raised panel door construction. The panel is really just a passenger in the door frame, and doesn't really contribute to the structural strength of the door. The main challenge in the panel-making process is to create a smooth edge profile that's exactly the right thickness to fit snugly in the panel groove.

To do that, you need a quality raised panel router bit.