# Rails & stiles



## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Two questions:


How much extra length does one allow to the rail blank to achieve a predetermined width with the stiles added? 
Does one run the rails & stiles through the bit in one pass or successive passes of increasing depth?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

landman said:


> Two questions:
> 
> 
> How much extra length does one allow to the rail blank to achieve a predetermined width with the stiles added?
> Does one run the rails & stiles through the bit in one pass or successive passes of increasing depth?


That would vary depending on your style and rail knives. You just have to cut a rail to a determined size and run the coping and sticking and see what you come up with. The width of the blank stile material plays into it also. I made a chart for mine with the stile material varying from 2 1/8" to 3" wide. For example if the finished size of the door is 12" wide I subtract 3 1/8" for the size of the rail with 2 1/8" stile material. The door actually ends up 12 1/8" wide but I run it through a shaper which puts a profile on the edge of it and that takes 1/16" off all four sides finishing it to 12" wide. 

For the most part I run the sticking in one pass but I use a shaper instead of a router.


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## dustmagnet (Jul 12, 2012)

Here's one of many calculators online. Depends on material whether it's one pass or multiple on the router table, on the shaper it's all done in one pass.


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## dustmagnet (Jul 12, 2012)

If I put the link up it would probably work better.......one of those days........http://www.hingmy.com/cabinetcalc2.php


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I wonder if the door calculator is made for the cabinet door set they sell. I tried it with my tooling and came up with a door 1/8" wider than it should be.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

It's not all that complicated. 

The stiles are the vertical size of the door. Consider overlay or inset in your measurement. 

The rails have to account for the part that is mortised into the stile. First measure the horizontal opening for the door. Consider overlay or inset in your measurement. Subtract double the width of the stile from this measurement. This is almost the length of the rail.

Measure from the bearing surface to the out most cutter on the stile router bit. Double that measurement and add that to the length of the rail determined above. In all probability this measurement is 7/16" and when doubled is 7/8". 

If you are doing inset doors, you'll probably want to add 1/8" to both the horizontal and vertical measurements. That way you can trim the doors on the table saw for an exact fit.

BTW - I doubt that you'll ever find a "perfect" rail and stile router bit set. When you look at the joint of the rail into the stile there will be a small gap of the stub tenon. (1/128" or so) It's just the way that the bits are made. If the stub tenon were 1/128" long, the gap would be on the front of the door. I think that sets for a shaper are made to a tighter tolerance.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Steve Neul said:


> I wonder if the door calculator is made for the cabinet door set they sell. I tried it with my tooling and came up with a door 1/8" wider than it should be.


One or two passes across the jointer oughtta fix that, huh?
Better than being short. :yes:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

MT Stringer said:


> One or two passes across the jointer oughtta fix that, huh?
> Better than being short. :yes:


I don't know what the difference is in the calculator. My tooling makes the tenons go further into the stile than the exposed sticking. This should make the door undersized but instead it's oversized. Anyway I don't go by the opening size to determine the door parts. Often you have a pair of doors to cover an opening so I work off the finished door size.


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## Midlandbob (Sep 5, 2011)

Lots of good advice.
Consider making the rail or stile blanks a bit wide and cutting to final width after the routing. Not very practical if making a lot of doors or using expensive wood.
Helpful perhaps when starting or unsure of the final dimension of the door.
. Woods that tend to splinter like oak are best cut in a few passes. Same thing for woods that tend to burn like cherry or maple. Smooth steady feed at the right/optimal speed takes a bit of practice.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Thanks everyone for all the good points. I ended up measuring the depth pf the groove in my test stick and adding that twice to the length of the rail and it came out bang on. Happy Easter everyone.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

landman said:


> Thanks everyone for all the good points. I ended up measuring the depth pf the groove in my test stick and adding that twice to the length of the rail and it came out bang on. Happy Easter everyone.


+1. :yes: That's basically it. No sense making it more involved than it is. Each set of bits will produce certain results. All that's necessary is to run a sample and see what the bits leave. From that, it's easy to figure out the width of the door (joints + rail length + stile width).








 








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