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I have made storage cabinets with a face frame using the Kreg system.  Now I would like to add insert panel doors to the openings in the face frame.  I would like to join the rails and stiles for the insert panel doors using the same Kreg technique I used to join the face frames.  

My question is: How do I cut the channels in the rails and stiles where the insert panel will go without compromising the strength of the rail to stile joint area?

There are a ton of videos on youtube for making raised panel doors and a ton for making insert panel doors.  All insert panel door videos I have seen use biscuits or tongue and groove methods to join the rails and stiles.

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If you have already assemble the door frames all you can do now is cut a rabbit if not you can cut a dado on all sides and make panels using table saw. Put a fence across the table. So what you do is square off a sacrificial fence and center THE EDGE OF FENCE  on  your arbor bolt  clamp the fence down and turn on saw  raise blade 1/8 inch and take panel and run it across the blade so you are cutting  a cove, do this on all sides and then repeat until you  get the thickness of you dado  and maybe a little thinner for expansion of wood.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

You will need to use stopped dado's or rabbets or they will show through on the top and bottom edges of the doors. Easiest way would probably assemble the door frames and use a router with a rabbeting bit the cut a ledge on the back side to recieve the panel, then screw or glue the panel in. Screw/glue is only an option if using MDF or plywood panels. Otherwise a retaining molding could be employed to hold the panel. Panel corners would need to be rounded or the rabbet corners squared up with chisels. Profiles along the inside edge would also likely need to be done before the panels are installed.

Following up and expanding upon Anthony's question:  not using biscuits or mortise and tenon, is there a way to make raised panel doors using Kreg pocket screw joinery?

Forgot to mention if doing rabbit MAKE SURE that when you make your frame to be sure you don't get screw to close to inside edge or your bit will hit it and disaster could strike

If you cut the channels all the way on the stiles, be sure to cut a small tenon on the ends of the rails to fill the void on the stiles.  The drill your pocket holes in the rails as normal.  When assembling, go slow when putting in the screws, and make sure to have clamping pressure over the joint area to avoid splitting of the stile.  You may also have to adjust the setup for the placement of the holes.  play with it on some scrap and see what will work for you.

Just don't cut the grove all the way across the side that will get attached (use a router bit rather than dado) just enough for the panel to fit in... I hate to say this, but kreg's jig isn't the best tool for that job. I prefer not to see pockets when the door is open. Yes, you can use plugs, but I honestly prefer the routed edges that match. 

Good luck...

Thanks to all for the reply's. Difficult to envision the possibilities as a beginner with zero background in woodworking.

Hi Doug - You got me confused.. Building doors doesn't/shouldn't impact the face frames... does it?  Fancy and expensive bits aren't really necessary either, A simple slot cutter can make the grooves in the rails and stiles and also be used to make the tenons on the rails. A simple shaker panel can be done on the table saw, that or flat panels could be used. You are correct in that a router table opens up a whole bunch of options though. Bottom line, IMO, as useful as pocket holes are, they aren't the best choice for making doors.

Douglas Harwood said:

Anthony,

If you have already put your face frames together, I would forget about doors for these particular cabinets.

All the work you are wanting to complete would be done usually on a router table and sometimes with some

pretty fancy and expensive bits.  If you try to take apart your face frames now and rout for the traditional rail and stile acceptance of a trapped panel you risk blow out on your pieces.  All this could be done, but going at it backwards could be very frustrating.  The free kitchen cabinet plans that Kreg gives new users can help you

with the usual process.  I normally just use the screws to build the boxes, traditional joinery for the frames, i.e. groves around rails and stiles, then cut stub tenons on the rails, trap my panels and just glue up the fames, no glue on the panels, sanding and finishing everything prior to glue up.

Good luck,

Doug

Hey Anthony,

check out my photo page...I took a pic of the inside of a door I made for my cabinet. Very simple construction as I don't have a router table at this time. I made the doors on a table saw.

Mike,
 
It's hard to believe that the entertainment center is your first major project. Very nice work!  As Steve wrote: it looks like you have been building excellent work for years!
 
I really like your raised panel doors using pocket screws on the back of the doors.
 
That's what I want to do for some interior shutters which I will be making in the near future and later for some cabinet doors.  I'll be using 3/4" pine, like you did.  My wife and I prefer frame and panel shutters to shutters with louvers.  I will paint the shutters (after plugging the pocket holes on the backside) to match the painted trim around the windows, baseboards, etc.
 
You wrote that you do not have a router.  What did you do on the interior edges of the stiles and the rails to hold the panels?  Did you make stopped grooves/dadoes?
 
Richard

Mike Robson said:
check out my photo page...I took a pic of the inside of a door I made for my cabinet. Very simple construction as I don't have a router table at this time. I made the doors on a table saw.

Here is another way to hide your rabbit cuts. Just do the rabbit and then place a panel over the insert

Hey Richard...Thanks,

My father was a carpenter but his shop was his shop...no kids !. He thought of safety first....but now that he is gone I would have loved to have done a project with him. 

I used a dado blade at 1/4 wide by 1/4 deep and marked the back as a guide and finished with a chisel...kind of crude but when you are limited with tools and experience we have to make do eh !

once I get into my new shop I will post pictures of more projects I have wanted to make for some time...but being limited for space I have not been able to do much.
 
Richard Sands said:

Mike,
 
It's hard to believe that the entertainment center is your first major project. Very nice work!  As Steve wrote: it looks like you have been building excellent work for years!
 
I really like your raised panel doors using pocket screws on the back of the doors.
 
That's what I want to do for some interior shutters which I will be making in the near future and later for some cabinet doors.  I'll be using 3/4" pine, like you did.  My wife and I prefer frame and panel shutters to shutters with louvers.  I will paint the shutters (after plugging the pocket holes on the backside) to match the painted trim around the windows, baseboards, etc.
 
You wrote that you do not have a router.  What did you do on the interior edges of the stiles and the rails to hold the panels?  Did you make stopped grooves/dadoes?
 
Richard

Mike Robson said:
check out my photo page...I took a pic of the inside of a door I made for my cabinet. Very simple construction as I don't have a router table at this time. I made the doors on a table saw.

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