Order when building raised panel doors

[Dave Kirby]

I wonder if anyone could give me some good advice? When building raised panel cabinet doors (and cabinet faceframe). Should you joint all the wood to the desired width (2" in this case) before cutting any of the rails/stiles to length, or is it ok to cut the rails/stiles to length before jointing. The stock I have are long boards and They have been cut to relative size and ready to be jointed but there may be some slight variation in the widths and I was thinking it may be difficult to run those length boards over the jointer with good results. Is there a standard order of operations when doing this type of build (aside from the obvious)? Any tips and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

[Mark Bolton]

We run all sticking in long lengths then simply start cutting your rails and stiles to length and then cope. Much easier and faster this way. Mill a bit extra for mistakes or bad material.

[David Hawxhurst]

generally you would rough cut to length before jointing (this is dependent on the jointer). the reasoning is that you are able to take off less thickness if the boards have any cupping, bowing, etc. the next step i do is plane them to the thickness i need, then rip to width. others will rip to width then plane to thickness. from here i usually cut rails to length then groove/shape the end grains then groove/shape the stiles and rails. at this point you have two options cut the stiles to length and assemble the door(s) or assemble the door(s) then trim the stiles to final length.

[David Eisenhauer]

It probably won't make a big difference either way and kind of depends on your shop layout if you are trying to maximize an efficient flow to the project. After a number of years building raised panel doors, I have developed a flow that works for me (in my shop's equipment layout): Flatten one face, joint one edge - plane to final thickness - rip to final width - cut to final length (at the radial arm saw station) - shaper. The rails and stiles have one "show side" (the jointed side) and one "shaped" side (no need to joint) for the panel to ride in. Also, my shaper takes over width material for the stick and cope operation and cuts it down to final width. For face frames, I use the same process and add in a second edge jointing run to clean up the ripping marks after I cut to length. That second run is a very, very shallow cut and I don't tend to leave any extra width for this when I rip.

[Peter Quinn]

It probably won't make a big difference either way and kind of depends on your shop layout if you are trying to maximize an efficient flow to the project. After a number of years building raised panel doors, I have developed a flow that works for me (in my shop's equipment layout): Flatten one face, joint one edge - plane to final thickness - rip to final width - cut to final length (at the radial arm saw station) - shaper. The rails and stiles have one "show side" (the jointed side) and one "shaped" side (no need to joint) for the panel to ride in. Also, my shaper takes over width material for the stick and cope operation and cuts it down to final width. For face frames, I use the same process and add in a second edge jointing run to clean up the ripping marks after I cut to length. That second run is a very, very shallow cut and I don't tend to leave any extra width for this when I rip.

This is my method pretty much exactly. Only thing I would add is that on doors with short parts I will joint and stick multiples, don't try pushing 9" or shorter rails over the jointer and through the TS. I'm a cope first stick later guy, but on really short rails I'll make a backing block and cope later. I don't like sticking long lengths, not sure how to flatten those effectively. I use a shaper with back fence to eliminate snipe and set final width precisely. On a router table this may not be possible. I know guys who stick first, then rip to width, particularly for inset doors which will get additional fitting thus all edges are cleaned later.

[Max Neu]

I buy my door frame material s4s 2 5/16" x 13/16".I stick full length, then cope.I cope with 2 different cutters, one forward, the other reverse, so I am always coping into the profile to eliminate tearout issues.

[Mark Bolton]

As always (the archives have plenty of coverage on this with a little searching) your equipment, material, and the type of work your doing, factors in heavily. I am predominantly building every day cabinet doors and thats what I assume the OP is doing. In that scenario (2" wide rails and stiles) if your base material (were talking S2S with one reasonably straight edge) is in need of major jointing and flattening youve got bigger problems. My material is much like Max's except its random widths and lengths but I start with 13/16" and a straight edge. I rip (TS/Feeder) to slightly over width and long lengths. To the shaper with back fence and feeder and run all the sticking. Software calls out a total footage and I mill slightly more.

At that point, for average size doors, if your base material doesnt provide you with a pretty stack of nice flat parts your back to the bigger problems issue. When I make average doors my jointer is gathering dust. Its never even turned on. I can even say it is for large/tall pantry doors. That material is picked from the best of the long sticking material and those doors are made first. All the longest parts are taken from the best material and the shorts come of out the rest. It is nearly all acceptable for any part but thats the order for me.

Of course if your dealing with something other than bread and butter doors, or wide rails and stiles, sure, I can see taking some extra pains. If we are talking about from dead rough, then yes, the jointer will be in the picture. But if your material is even just initially surfaced and for an every day cabinet part thats 2" wide you still have to run it across the jointer and through the planer out of necessity or just your personal need or ritual, there are in my opinion problems with your materials or your practice. Period or heirloom work, sure. Dead rough, sure. But for even very nice, high quality, custom doors, its simply not necessary.

[Max Neu]

I use to start from rough lumber and go through all the steps to get to a finished door.Now I just buy the s4s, it comes 2 5/16", I just power feed it through with my infeed fence in 1/16" and I get my 2 1/4" sticks coming out the other end ready to go.I am so spoiled now from buying s4s, I buy it for just about everything for the whole job.My hardwood supplier asked me if I was getting slow since I wasn't buying as much from them, I told him no,"just tired of wasting time".My software program gives me all the parts I need for the job (face frame parts, door parts, trim etc.), then I just order everything in s4s form.About the only thing I buy random lumber for anymore is gluing up panels, in that case I get it s3s planed to 7/8".

[Keith Hankins]

Just remember you need wider if you are putting a profile with cope n stick(stiles). Me I generally do cope n stick so the profile is generally 3/8" so to have 2" desired width on the stiles , it's 2 + 3/8". I tend to go a little wider so I have a little to finish cut after assembly to custom fit my doors to opening. Rails for top n bottom rails a bit wide to allow for final fit as well. Length wise I leave my stiles long. and fit rails to panels glue up then cut stiles. I leave my stiles a tad wide just in case my box opening is not perfect. I can hand plane to a perfect fit.

[Larry Copas]

I use 2 3/8" for the sole reason that it keeps my math simple for a simple mind. All of my sticking and frame stock goes through the thickness planer on edge so no question or deviation on widths. Stiles are left long and the edge sander eats the left overs.

[J.R. Rutter]

We start with S4S sticks and cut to length before shaping. One reason for this is to maximize the best faces by flipping and turning as needed. Another reason is that I like to have all of the crown up to keep the finished doors more uniform and flat. For parts shorter than 6-7", we do run sticking first and cut a long grain cope profile as a backer. In general though, the copes are cleaner for us if we cope first, then run the sticking. An outboard or "trap" fence will make everything uniform width if your cutters remove the full edge.

We S4S in house with a rip saw and moulder, but outsourcing is a great solution if your supplier understands your needs and can do a good job. I tend to want rift and QS parts for frames and save flat grain for panels. I agree with not relying on jointing to get things flat - you just can't polish a turd, so to speak. Wood that starts out wonky will move more as the MC changes, so start with naturally flat and straight rips as much as you can. I generally save the funky strips for matching drawer faces where the finished part will be screwed to a drawer box.

So anyway, OP: crosscut as needed, joint faces minimally, plane to consistent thickness, joint outside edges (or plane on edge), and experiment with cope and stick techniques to find an order and process that fits your equipment.

[Justin Ludwig]

I'm new to building doors so I've read about everything on SMC I could find. I have a mixture of methods that Mark and JR listed as well as Jeff D (who hasn't chimed in yet). It's tailored to my skill level and my tools. S4S, cut all pieces to length. Cope then stick. I use an outboard fence for sticking and for pieces shorter than 7", a jig I built using Jack Forsberg's method from a video he posted is used to keep them from getting caught in the cutter. All my rails are cut 1/8" longer than needed. I set the fence to take a 1/16th of both sides of the rail and this removes any burrs or chips from the RAS. All my stiles are +1/16 width before being shaped and the outboard fence is set so they'll get that extra taking off leaving a better edge. So far, this method has worked extremely well for me.

I don't fight cantankerous pieces. Cull them for short pieces and cut out the bad parts. I hand select boards for tall/long doors/panels. The current project is #1 and #2 hickory and it's about an angry wood as I've worked with. Thankfully they are 1/4" flat panel shaker style.