Tooling For An Interior Door

[Ken Krawford]

I've made a number of cabinets for my daughter with doors like the one shown below. She would like me to make a replacement door for her pantry in the same style. It's a 2-0 x 6-8 x 1 1/2 door. I'm guessing I could use my Freud rail & stile bit to get the exterior profile to match but am concerned about how the interior of the door would look since the stock is 1 1/2" rather than 3/4" like I use for cabinets. I know the right answer is to buy a new bit to match the 1 1/2" stock but since this is a "one off" project I'd rather not buy a bit I'll only use once.
Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

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[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Ken, if it's going to be painted I would make a Shaker style door (no profile cuts) and apply a molding to make it look like a profiled rail and stile..........Regards, Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

Hi Ken, if it's going to be painted I would make a Shaker style door (no profile cuts) and apply a molding to make it look like a profiled rail and stile..........Regards, Rod.

That was my thought as well.

[lowell holmes]

I suggest that you make a prototype molding, look at it, and go from there. That way you can refine the shape.

[Jim Becker]

For a one-off like this, you could do the same thing that I did for my own interior door project not long ago...build the door using simple T&G to hold the panels and M&T (or Dominos) for the major joints and then make an applied molding for the surround of the panels using the same cutters you would for your cabinet doors. The applied molding is attached to the door's rails and stiles, not the panel, so that any wood movement is handled appropriately. It's meticulous work to get the mitered corners for the moldings perfect, but you have an advantage (as did I) with the end product being painted. I did one door this way and have one more to do. I have no incentive to invest in heavy tooling for a one-off like this, personally.

[Cary Falk]

That was my thought as well.

I will third that.

[Ken Krawford]

Thanks for the great idea. I will proceed with that plan.