Making Raised Panel Doors With A Router

Traditional raised panels appear in almost every furniture style since roman times though the way to make them varies wildly.

Making raised panel doors with a router.

The tool of choice for most small shop woodworkers who want to make raised panels is the router. Some door cutter sets also come with an outside edge profile bit. The rails need to be approximately 5 inches 1 2 cm less than the stiles. Learn how to build cabinet door frames using a rail and stile router bit set.

Any competent craftsman can do high quality ra. Due to the limitations of some routers router bit manufacturers have produced raised panel cutters that require the panel be vertical when pushed past the cutter. This allows them to make the bit smaller and lighter. A large one generally 3 hp hung in a router table plus a set of specialized bits.

This is a necessary feature for arched and cathedral style door making. One method is to use a tool that is specially designed to do the job such as a panel raising plane or a panel raising router cutter. The whole setup will cost 350 to 800 and is money well spent if you re going to make a whole kitchen full of doors. Make the stiles blanks the length you need and then run the inside edge through a stile router bit mounted on a router table.

All the methods however fall into two different camps. Most cabinet doors especially if they are made in a factory have frames tha. There is a mystique about raised panel work which is silly as the whole process is really easy and very quick. Horizontal bits require a more powerful router and slower operating speeds because of their large cut diameter.