Yes, Ed, I didn't really mean email. Will post here just in case anyone else is interested, and also so all of you others can tell puretrick if I'm giving him good answers.
Ok, pure- The first thing to know is that you need 5 pieces for each door. The pieces on each side, called the stiles, run from top to bottom, the full length of the door. The rails run between them, horizontally at the top of the door and at the bottom. The rails and stiles are commonly 3/4" thick and from 2" to 2 1/2" wide. The middle portion of the door is the panel and is glued up to it's width using 2" to 3" wide pieces.
We really don't need to reinvent the wheel here, there are websites that explain how to do the doors. This one might help:
http://www.oldham-usa.com/Products/BitsMain/Tip and tricks/CabinetMenu.htm
Basically you would first get your measurements (very important!!) for each door. Then you would get your stiles and rails cut to width. I do a lot of long pieces, which would be all your stiles and rails, joined together, then cut to length at the end, after routing the grooves that will hold the panels. (Always make extra!) What you must remember is that the rails fit into the stiles, so the rails need the extra length on each end that is the tenon. Example, if your door is 16" wide, then your stiles (if 2" wide) will take off 2" on each side, leaving you 12", BUT your rail must be 12" PLUS the tenon on each end, which may be 1/2" on each end of the rail, so your rail is actually 13".
| stile |
rail | stile |
When you measure for the middle panel, you must add the size of the narrow part (Yes, your router bit will make the panel door thin enough to fit into the slots in the rails and stiles, but not so thin that it will break) that will fit into the slots of the rails and stiles, on all four sides.
I think the best thing for you to do would be to make a sample door, trying out your router bits and sizes, etc. This really is the way to go when doing anything. I never run anything through my router or even table saw without doing test pieces first.
I would really encourage you to go to the local store and buy a wood workers magazine, either Popular Woodworking, or Wood Magazine, or anyone, look through for any plan that includes panel doors in it, for some additional help.
There are so many 'tricks to the trade' that I'm not sure what to tell you. For example, when routing the panel door edges, you don't take everything off in one step, you just take about a 1/16" and gradually get to the finished size.
~Julie~