Frame & Panel Door Question

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm using a new Freud cabinet bit set for the doors and end panels for my kitchen project. This set has a built in back cutter. I made a couple of the end panels and from my experience the panel to the frame fit is too tight. I measured them and I get either line-to-line or even a slight interference. Luckily this is their new adjustable set and I can widen the groove with shims if needed.

What clearance should there be between the two?


Thanks,

Mike

[Peter Quinn]

I like about .005"-.008" difference between the panel tongue and the groove, a bit more if you will be prefinishing the panels before assembly. That is measured with calipers, but you can just set it for a glove like fit. Shouldn't have to force it but you don't want rattle either when the doors close. Keep in mind a test piece can seem great, but when you assemble a whole door with four edges to deal with things can seem a little too snug, so try milling the parts for a whole door and setting the panel tongue thickness to that.

Does it not allow you to remove shims from the back cut set up? It seems strange to me to set the door parts to the panel, I typically make the panel match the groove, not the other way round.

[Mike Goetzke]

I like about .005"-.008" difference between the panel tongue and the groove, a bit more if you will be prefinishing the panels before assembly. That is measured with calipers, but you can just set it for a glove like fit. Shouldn't have to force it but you don't want rattle either when the doors close. Keep in mind a test piece can seem great, but when you assemble a whole door with four edges to deal with things can seem a little too snug, so try milling the parts for a whole door and setting the panel tongue thickness to that.

Does it not allow you to remove shims from the back cut set up? It seems strange to me to set the door parts to the panel, I typically make the panel match the groove, not the other way round.

Thank you for making me look at it a different way. The panel cutter indeed had shims for the back-cutter. I removed a couple and we'll see how it goes.

Thanks

[Peter Quinn]

Mike, I usually accept the panel groove created by the molding cutter, or sticking, to be a given, as the groover is a fixed cutter. I then set the cope cut (which can typically be shimmed for adjustment) to the sticking cut, and adjust the height to match, then set the panel tongue (which can typically also be adjusted to match the groove) to a complete set or four door parts. Its much like the logic of making mortises first, and fitting the tenons to those rather than vice versa. In the case of cope and stick sets, there are some sets with adjustable groovers that allow for adjustment, but most do not. I use adjustable groovers when plywood flat panels are being used and thus the panel material is a given and all else must be adjusted to that. Of course with a thickness sander even plywood or mdf panels may be adjusted a bit too. Lots of ways to get there.