Cabinet Doors

I've had several calls to make cabinet doors, the 5 piece ones and MDF. I guess my question is, can I cut all the parts for a 5 piece door on the bot?
Jimmy

My experience with making cabinet doors shows me that it is far less time consuming to do it on a router table than a bot. Most of your rail and stile bits have bearings and its my experience you would need to make a goog jig to hold each piece precisely to keep the bit and bearing from running into the piece and pushing the whole thing or getting the Z height right for each piece to keep them fitting properly.

One thing I did do for my router table was to set each bit up and experimented with scrap till i got the fits just right. Then I made some "templates" of the rails and stiles and marked them accordingly.
So now when I want to make a set of rails and stiles I will take the bit, insert it into the table and take my template and raise or lower my bit till it fits perfectly against the bit.

Without thinking too much about it I could see how you could make a jig that was elevated from the surface of the table where say 1/3rd of the length of your board in the X stuck over the edge
and you took this same template and set your X,Y
but I can see problems if your width is not the same as your template.
I know how cool it is to see something like that done by the bot, but unless you have an order to do 1000 of them, I think you are better off doing it the old fashion way on a router table.

Jimmy

I stopped fabricating cabinet doors and drawer boxes
about 15year+ ago.I've been outsourcing all this work.If you consider setup time/purchasing materials/selecting the right boards/sanding/gluing (not necessarily in that order)let alone the cost of the cutters and the variety needed,is
it really worth it?
As with my Bot,I can considerate on what I do best.I order my doors and drawers as soon as I get my deposit.As I build my cabinets the doors/drawers and at times mouldings are being constructed.By the time I'm ready for them,they arrive ready to finish and install.There are many good door and drawer companies out there.
For me outsourcing is the way to go,especially as a one man shop.

With that said,you can build on piece MDF doors on the your Bot.I haven't done so yet.I prefer 5 piece doors(wood frame/Mdf center panels)for paint grade.But if a job comes alone for one piece
Mdf doors,I would look into it.I'm sure "Luigi"can handle it.

Erminio

I make MDF doors daily in my shop on my shopbot.

Wood 5 pc doors I outsource.

Thanks
I think I'll try to find someone to outsource them to.
Thanks
Jimmy

Jimmy

I use http://walzcraft.com.Great company.
Try them out.

Erminio

That's http://walzcraft.com

here in the south east its roy's

http://www.royswoodproducts.com/index1.html

catalog here

http://www.royswoodproducts.com/catalog/04catbw.pdf

Jimmy,
How many doors are you talking about ? If this is going to be a repeat thing then i would look into the weaver 5 piece door setup . That is what i have and like it very good. I do both 5 piece and mdf doors in house , mainly because its easier for me to do that . Economics should play an important part in this decision as to weather its worth the investment in additional equipment and labor to further your buisness in this area. Also keep in mind that by doing so you can use this as fill in work when you are not as busy as you would like to be,. What is the size of your shop as to the # of people? In some cases its more profitable to outsource . Weigh your options and procied with caution, and good luck in your decision..