Raised Panel Doors on Tablesaw

[Graham Gilbert]

Somewhere recently I saw an article on doing the subject. Basically you ran the perimeters of the panel through flat with the blade at 1/8" height and about 2" from the fence; made dados in your stiles & rails; and tilted your tablesaw blade to a small degree (and at the correct height) to run the panel through on its edges.

Now do you think I can find the article???

Can someone either point me to it or advise me on the angle and blade height and distance from the fence? TIA

BTW I had abandoned this NG for a while because JOAT went on a sabbatical or was not contributing for a while. It is good to see him and his helpful references back...

Graham Gilbert

[tom]

I've made a few on the tablesaw, and one thing I'll never do without while panel raising is a Zero Clearance Insert. You'll have to make one the proper angle for the blade, and the height of the blade needs to be able to cut clear through the material. Make sure your stock is FLAT, or you'll get an interesting effect. Featherboards and a tall fence attachment makes things a lot easier and safer, too. Tom

[stoutman]

Try this to find the article: There is more than one on the topic.

[Mike W.]

I recently posted my results and questions on the subject.

Mine came out pretty good. I'll repost the pics on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking if you want to see them.

The details: Use a zero clearance insert. I tilted the blade 14 degrees from vertical. As far as fence setting, I just experimented on some test pieces to fit the dados in the stiles and rails. I also built a big auxillary fence about 12" tall to support the panel as I ran it.

Let me know if you want me to post the pics.

Thanks.

Mike W.

Graham Gilbert wrote:

[Josh]

I don't know if the article(s) you read mention it or not, but make sure to do the cross-cuts (perpendicular to the grain) before the rip cuts (parallel to the grain) on the panel. Unless you use a really good cross-cut blade you'll likely get some tear-out at the end of the cross-cuts. If you do those two cuts first, the splintered region will be removed when you do the rip cuts.

I think the initial cuts you do at 1/8" height will help; I've never bothered to do it that way. Even on those cuts, however, you'll probably avoid some splintering on the corners of the panel center by doing the cross-cuts first.