Raised panel doors: router vs shaper or by hand?

[snoopy_]

I need to make about 6 raised panel doors for a set of cabinets my wife made. I am just a hobbyist but I have a few choices.

1. Order them to my specs from an outside company.
2. Use a router. I think I need a faster router though, mine is 1/4" and fairly slow (craftsman special), as well as a router table.
3. Purchase a shaper. I think this would be safest, but expensive and I wouldn't use it much.
4. Make them by hand. Takes longer and would not be very oranate ( I was thinking of raised arch design).

Any advice?

Snoopy.

[Jay Pique]

You can make them on a table saw.

JP

[David]

You DO NOT NEED A SHAPER to make raised panels! Either use a router table, or simple ones can be made on the TS.

Dave

[Leuf]

Not with an arch though.

To elaborate, to make a concave edge to the panel on a TS you clamp a straight edge at an angle to and passing over the blade and then make a series of passes starting with the blade below the table. By moving the straight edge forward/back and changing the angle you can get different profiles. You don't want to do this with your best blade as it will wear the blade on one side.

-Leuf

[jo4hn]

If these 6 are going to be the first and last batch you make, go with number 1. You can't do arches on a TS. If you really want to build them yourself, you could probably do it with a coping saw, and some combo of planes and chisels plus scrapers and sandpaper. If you want to spend some money, the price difference between a good router/router table and a shaper is probably a push. truth is stranger than beauty, jo4hn

[Jay Pique]

You're right. I overlooked that part.

JP

[snoopy_]

Thanks for the help. I think I'll abandon the arches.

I found a website that talks about doing them by hand (

), but I thought the cross grain might be a problem. Any suggestion for taking on the crossgrain, other than really sharp tools :-)?

[CW]

[jo4hn]

I've seen one built from scrap, clamps, and a couple of sawhorses. Add in a HF router and voila. If that will suffice for your project, go for it.

Otherwise, Grizzly has a small shaper for $100 and a more usable 3/4 horse for $265. YMMV. mahalo, jo4hn

[CW]

It will suffice for any project.