Replies

1. 
   Pondfish | May 17, 2006 02:55am | #1

   Your problem is solved using a matched rail and stile router bit set.   These tend to be pricey ($70+) but will allow you to make perfect doors.  Check out these bits on any router-bit selling web site.

   Recommending the use of "Hide Signatures" option under "My Preferences" since 2005
2. 
   BruceS | May 17, 2006 05:04am | #2

   Yes to prior post,  Matched Stile/rail bits would have been the way to go.  Seeing that you don't have that set  you should probably settle for a mitered half lap which is a respectable joint.

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

3. 
   jazzdogg | May 17, 2006 05:13am | #3

   It's generally a good idea to bore your dowel holes, whether for butt joints or to reinforce cope & stick joinery, before routing profiles - while the stock is square and easy to deal with.

   If you have the bits necessary to cut a complimentary profile to match the sticking you already routed, you can abut the two routed profiles - which will leave a square edge to drill - and drill through both pieces simultaneously.

   Failing that, you can use a drill press to bore the holes, while holding the stock in an X-Y vise, using a forstner bit.

   Good luck,

    

   -Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

1. 
   dudeman555 | May 17, 2006 06:35am | #4

   Yes I confess! I don't have the proper router bit set! Even still! I did a fair job of matching the two. Is there any way of using a biscuit with the edges already routered?

1. 
   jazzdogg | May 17, 2006 07:31am | #5

   "Is there any way of using a biscuit with the edges already routered?"

   It can be done with a little creativity. Since you only have half of the stile and rail thickness remaining after profiling the edge with a router, aligning the parts to be slotted with a biscuit joiner will be critical, as will be using biscuits of the correct size. If your biscuit joiner isn't adjustable, you may have to shim up some of the parts before you can cut the biscuit slots.

   If I were in your shoes, I'd mock up the biscuit joinery on 3/8" thick scrap for practice before slotting the completed stiles and rails.

   Good luck,-Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

1. 
   dudeman555 | May 19, 2006 05:00am | #6

   How should I have started. It seems like the only option is to use
   dowels! Am I the only person afraid to use dowels? There's no way to
   get two holes SO perfectly aligned and still end up with a square frame. The last time I tried using dowels, I bored oversized holes because the dowels kept forcing my work out of square??

1. 
   joinerswork | May 19, 2006 03:21pm | #7

   dude,

   It seems that you have a couple problems. (1) One is that the molding you chose takes up half the thickness of your stock.  No one has mentioned panels for these doors.  A 1/4" groove for your panel will only leave 1/8" at the back, that's pretty minimal. (2) the joining of stile and rail. A well fitting "tongue" (stub tenon), worked on the ends of the rails, will, combined with a well-fitted cope to the molding,  give enough glue area to hold the door together.  That's what the matched cutter sets give you.  Or you can mortise the stiles, lining the mortise up with the groove in the stile, and cut a longer (1") tenon on the ends of the rails.  If the rails are already cut to length, fitting a loose tenon (or putting a biscuit there) may be an option.

   Have you cut the rails to length?  If so, did you allow for the offset of the ends of the rails -that is, the loss of length required by coping the ends of the rails?

   Regards,

   Ray Pine

    

2. 
   geraldartman | May 19, 2006 03:34pm | #8

   Why not trim the routed profile off the mating areas so you have a butt joint and then use a biscuit/dowel/tenon (preferred). You just mitre the corners of the profiles to fit tightly where they meet. If you can use a biscuit, you can also use a tenon, fixed or floating.

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3. 
   joinerswork | May 19, 2006 08:50pm | #10

   gerald,

   Yeah, that'll work too. I think the poster said he'd already shaped the ends of his rails, though. Can also chop (by hand) a coping onto the end of the rail just thru the molding, in lieu of the miters.  More than one way to skin a cat, as my daddy used to say.

   Cheers,

   Ray

4. 
   dudeman555 | May 19, 2006 11:35pm | #11

   Thanks All! I think I see the error of my ways! Had I used(bought) the proper router set, there would have been enough mating surface for a strong glued joint. With the matched set you tend to get a tongue and groove along with with the profile; something my joint currently doesn't have. I'll create a biscuit slot as best I can! My 1/4 ply. panel, which will just glue in from the back, should add some overall strength to the door.
   Thanks guys for the insight!!

5. 
   Ragnar17 | May 20, 2006 07:05am | #12

   My 1/4 ply. panel, which will just glue in from the back, should add some overall strength to the door.

   That will negate some of the beneficial properties of the "floating panel" design, but it doesn't sound like you're building an heirloom piece at this point.  ;)

   Edited 5/20/2006 12:06 am ET by Ragnar17

2. 
   mudman | May 19, 2006 05:05pm | #9

   "I don't have the proper router bit set! Even still! I did a fair job of matching the two"

   So you made a matching cope and stick profile using a collection of bits? Bravo, you just learned more about router set up in one operation than I learned in 2 years. I agree that a drill press and dowels is the way to go.

   Mike

4. 
   WillGeorge | May 21, 2006 06:58pm | #13

   Not sure where to go on this one BUT..

   I use to make ALOT of doors to replace originals in older (as in really old) homes. All were different in many ways..

   If I had a problem, I used marine grade 1/8 to 1/2 inch Ply. As a sort of 'tennon'. With that RED glue they use on boats that is fully water PROOF!

   I just cut a slot in there someplace to fit it.. I cheated, I'd cut a slot with my table saw and sort of sneak up on the SIZE. (On scrap)and then saw the REAL work.