35 - Revolving Tool Station, страница 12

Building

Raised Panel Doors

To build raised panel doors like a pro, all you need is a router table and three special bits.

A few years ago, I had a chance to see several big, industrial woodworking machines. You know the type — the kind where you throw a log in one end and get a finished cabinet out the other.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit. But the point is, these production machines can crank out a project in a fraction of the time it takes me to do it in my shop.

That sounded pretty good to me as I got ready to tackle a big project of my own — building-raised panel doors for my kitchen cabinets.

12 ShopNotes No. 35

Since there were a lot of doors to build (I was replacing twenty-three "slab" doors), I decided to temporarily convert my own shop into a production workshop.

specialty bits. To do this, I bought three router bits that are specially designed for making raised panel doors. A pair of stile and rail bits simplify the construction of the frame. (For more on these bits, refer to page 24.) And a raised panel bit creates the profile around the edge of the solid wood panel, see page 15.

cost. Although these router bits make quick work of building a raised panel door, there is one drawback — they're fairly expensive. (I spent about $100 for the stile and rail bits and $70 for a raised panel bit.) So it takes

STILE

RAIL

quite a large project to help justify the cost.

PLANNING

Once you get the bits, it's¹ tempting to get started right away. But a little planning now will save a lot of problems from cropping up later.

size. First of all, you'll need to establish the overall size of each door. This depends on the type of door you're building.

overlay. One of the most common types is an overlay door. Like its name implies, it overlays the face frame of the cabinet, see drawing on next page.

To determine the size of the door, first decide on the amount of overlay you want. Then add that amount to the size of the opening in the cabinet.

hinges. Another thing that affects the amount of overlay is the design of the hinges. So you'll want to have them on hand before you get started.

RAIL CUT

RAIL BIT FORMS TONGUE AND COPED PROFILE ON END OF RAIL SO IT FITS INTO STILE

FRANIES

The first step in building the doors is to make the wood frames that wrap around the raised

STILE CUT

STILE BIT CREATES DECORATIVE PROFILE AND GROOVE ON EACH STILE AND RAIL

RAISED PANEL PROFILE

RAISED PANEL BIT CUTS PROFILE AROUND EDGE OF PANEL THAT "RAISES" FIELD IN CENTER

NOTE:

ALL PIECES ARE ³/4"-THICK HARDWOOD