shaker door help plz

[Roddy Thibault]

when i go to make the rails (to cut the slot) with a 3 1/2 router
i get a lot of tear out . whats the cause of that? is the bit turning too slow?
is my bit too dull? i use a door set to match (rail & style)
i have only made about 10 cabinet doors with bit set
any help or thoughts would be great

tanks rod

[Michael Roland]

Are you using a backer block of scrap wood behind the rail ?

[Steve Mellott]

Roddy:

You may be taking too deep a cut. If you are using a router, try cutting the groove in 2 or 3 passes. Better yet - use the table saw to cut the groove in the rails and stiles. It is a lot easier.

Steve

[Darius Ferlas]

As Steve mentioned, some pre-cutting on a TS will help, so will a backer block.

I use a lowly 2HP for rails, stiles and raised panels. To minimize the router's effort and to maximize the quality of cut I first cut the profile in a piece of softwood such as pine. I use that as a jig to set my TS blade's height and the fence distance from the blade, and then I use my TS to remove as much material from the good wood as possible without cutting too much. After that the router doesn't have to work nearly as hard. This lets me finish rail and stile usually in two passes, and also extends the life of the carbide tips. Especially door making ones are pricey after all. So far I tried that with good results on walnut and cherry.

[Charles McCracken]

when i go to make the rails (to cut the slot) with a 3 1/2 router
i get a lot of tear out . whats the cause of that? is the bit turning too slow?
is my bit too dull? i use a door set to match (rail & style)
i have only made about 10 cabinet doors with bit set
any help or thoughts would be great

tanks rod

Rod,

As others have mentioned, you may get better results when grooving by making an initial pass that is very shallow (1/16" to 1/8" deep) then following with successively deeper cuts until you get to final depth.