Making Raised Panel Doors With A Router

A large one generally 3 hp hung in a router table plus a set of specialized bits.

Making raised panel doors with a router.

Horizontal raised panel bits have the added feature of a pilot bearing to guide the router cut along the edge of the panel. Some door cutter sets also come with an outside edge profile bit. Traditional raised panels appear in almost every furniture style since roman times though the way to make them varies wildly. 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.

Make the stiles blanks the length you need and then run the inside edge through a stile router bit mounted on a router table. The width depends on the project and the look you want for your cabinets. All the methods however fall into two different camps. 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. This is a necessary feature for arched and cathedral style door making. 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. Horizontal raised panel bits.

The rails need to be approximately 5 inches 1 2 cm less than the stiles. There is a mystique about raised panel work which is silly as the whole process is really easy and very quick. Learn how to build cabinet door frames using a rail and stile router bit set. The tool of choice for most small shop woodworkers who want to make raised panels is the router.