Cabinet door construction

[Dave]

I am making a small cabinet with an arched, raised panel door. The rails are 2" and the top one will have an arch cut into it. the stiles are 1".

I am having difficulty in creating a decorative pattern on the inside edges of the rails and stiles and then have them align properly when joined. Most plans I have seen use special router bits. I do not have the special kit, but is there any other way to do this?

IMHO, I would get a greater sense of accomplishment if I did this without using the router bit set.

Any pointers on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Dave

[Minorite]

how about pre-assembling the rails and stiles without the panel, and running a router bit around the inside, then dis-assemble and put in the panel bob

[Mike in Mystic]

You basically have two options, the way I see it. 1) You can miter the intersection of the profile so that the two parts align. I've done this before on simple frames with a roundover or bead detail on the edge. If you use mortise and tenons, as I'm assuming you're doing here, you simply use a backsaw and miter the molded portion by hand so the two profiles line up. It isn't that hard. 2) You can try to cope the molding on one of the pieces so it overlaps the other piece properly. This is basically what the router bit sets achieve (of which I have several sets and love them, not sure why you don't want to use them other than the cost involved, of course). In this way, one piece really just fits around the molded portion of the other. I'm sure you can try this by hand, but it seems like it would be pretty tricky if the profile is fairly small. With a good coping saw it might not be too tough.

Anyway, the router bit sets really do work nicely, but if you're not making a lot of doors or panels I can see why you might not want to invest in them.

Mike

[Mike G]

Hunt around for information on cope and stick door construction.