Pro cabinet makers don’t want you to know how to do this

[@paulgreene9997]

You're a good teacher - very clear and articulate, easy to understand and detail oriented.

[@stucorbett7905]

Hey good vid for the new people. Ive owned my shop for almost 27 yrs now. Trick to a great door is using a shaper. WE use Freeborn tooling and build out 50-75 doors a day. Then run them through wide belt sanders and all the way down to hand sanding. Maybe someday ill post a vid of our operation but for now way to busy to care. Cheers from Montana

[@danielakerman8241]

Great vid. Couple of suggestions: 1) if one starts by cutting the tenon in the scrap piece first, you can use the tenon itself to easily set up the mortise and get it absolutely perfect. No need for so much measuring and no need for two separate scrap pieces. 2) for better consistency and cleaner cuts on the tenon, one can buy boards at least double the needed width, cut the tenons first, and then rip to size. (The drawback of this is a little extra sanding or planing on the cut edge to remove saw marks). Another time saver is to pre-cut the mortises on full length boards before cutting to length. 3) when measuring the panel, there’s no need at all to measure the outside dimension of the door and then subtract the rail width. Simply dry fit the stiles and rails and measure the INSIDE length, then add the groove depth (x2). 4) unless the panel is MDF, it’s good to leave 2-3mm clearance on all sides to account for wood expansion, and the panel should never be glued.

[@sethhamilton5824]

Yup.

[@sethhamilton5824]

I run a rebate on the panel to fit the panel to fit the groove, way easier than all this measuring

[@lindamarsden8024]

I'm building my own home, the shell is almost done. I plan on making all my own cabinets and although i have made shaker style doors before this is the best tutorial I have ever seen and will follow Brent's method in the future, I just added the adjustable router bit to my Amazon cart. Thank you for your excellent videos.

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad you found it helpful

[@Mattytube18]

@@bentswoodworking hi Ben, can you pls tell me about your router table and all its fixins? I’m shopping for one now and I like how precise your setup looks. Thnx

[@jeffponkratz8012]

Let me begin by saying that as an absolute zero-experienced woodworker, I was able to completely build all new kitchen and office cabinets for our recently completed home renovation thanks to your videos. You Sir, have been a wonderful guide-on-the-side as I moved through the process. The local contractor that designed and ultimately installed my products actually offered me a job saying my quality exceeded his subcontractors. I'm retired, so that wasn't going to happen, but it was good to hear, and I saved a lot of money in building my own. I did run into panel fitting issues however in that the panel thickness' were inconsistent with my grooves. I watched this video twice and wonder if I missed something as I'm not sure how the first adjustable router bit used to cut the grooves is able to conform to the exact width of the panel. I like how the second router bit allows the tenons to conform to the width of the groove, but I'm not getting how to get the first bit to conform to the width of the panel. Can you help me better understand that adjustment please? Thank you!

[@user-deepseafishing]

I am with you. Other than showing a stack of washers, the video didn't really show how the 'adjustability' works at all.

[@timothybint4960]

I don’t understand that either

[@elhuache6131]

This is the type of videos that worth the time watching. Well explained very informative. Thanks.

[@bentswoodworking]

@@elhuache6131 thank you!

[@jamesmkoenig]

A good tip for aligning the height of the bit for cutting the rail tenons: Cut a piece of the panel material about 1 inch wide and put it in the groove of a stile. Use that as a gauge for the height by inserting it into the gap on bit. You should be able to spin the router bit and have it drag on that material both top and bottom. That way you don't have to eyeball the grove vs the gap on the bit. It either fits or it doesn't. By the way, love the videos, keep em coming!

[@waltmooredanwilson8754]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing this. Take care and God Bless.

[@abad_gtr1123]

another impeccably timed video Jason! my wife wants to update our doors to the shaker style and i've had the Freud router bit set sitting around for over a year. this video explains how to utilize them perfectly. i'm feeling pretty confident now.....nothing to it but to do it! cheers

[@JefferLin]

Thanks!

[@bentswoodworking]

You're welcome!

[@josephnoll2754]

Thank you for this video. As a beginning woodworking, this made the process clear. Im learning about routers.

[@b1j]

Yes. I was making my doors about the same time you posted this video. Just seeing it now. I used a coping sled to reduce degrees of freedom and make coping the rails less stressful. I used the Freud bit set and made my doors from hard white maple. My “1/4-inch” plywood fit perfectly in the stock Freud set’s spacing. I broke the edges before assembly with a block plane and a sanding block. Good video. Very straightforward. One fine point: routing with this bit set is probably only feasible with a stout router lift. I can adjust my JessEm to 0.002”.

[@jimserhant7741]

Another great tutorial to make my morning coffee taste that much better. A proper setup always ensures you don’t mess up & determines how your final product ends up.

[@bentswoodworking]

Great to hear!

[@markarita3]

22:34 Little tip: sand those "inner corners" before assembly, there's less chance of catching panel plus you can easily access the entire length of the piece. Awesome video! I wasn't even aware of adjustable router bits. Thanks.

[@ptortland]

Nice video-- thanks! Always appreciate your clear cut instructions. However, when you used the 7.5 mm setup blocks to set the initial bit height for cutting the the test groove, I knew immediately it was wrong-- not in the true center of the test piece. That's because you registered the BOTTOM of the router cutter teeth to the blocks rather than the CENTER of the cutter teeth! Is OK, an easy and common mistake to make.😆 To be truly accurate, you would measure the height of the cutter teeth and subtract 1/2 that height from the setup block. That would put you in the true center. If you don't have setup blocks, you can eyeball the center (or use a ruler), make a test cut and flip the board over. You're in dead center when the groove matches equally when flipping the board over.

[@gregsmith6791]

The white board with the round brown in the background sent me back to my days at Ft. Benning 20 years ago lol. Great teaching style and I certainly appreciate it

[@bentswoodworking]

Wasn’t too far off my time in Basic at Ft Benning. April 2003

[@mannysthings6229]

I've seen a few of your videos and I can confirm you earned my subscription great work.

[@bentswoodworking]

Awesome, thank you!

[@billj5645]

I have a friend that owns a cabinet shop. He uses 1/2" thick material for his panels in order to make a door that feels more solid. He cuts the same 1/4" dado in the rails and stiles then cuts a rabbit in the edges of the panel to fit, the extra panel thickness essentially makes the panels flush out with the back faces of the rails and stiles.

[@bentswoodworking]

I really like using a thicker panel as well when possible. Definitely a different feel.

[@b1j]

That’s what I did. The doors are beefier, and look flush on the inside.

[@bowermanwinburn6723]

@@b1j WoodPrix includes very useful instructions with all details I need

[@reddog9484]

It's nice, but cost is added to the customer, and most wouldn't care let alone know the difference unless it was pointed out to them.

[@semosancus5506]

Yep this is how I do it also.

[@SuperCC112]

Man i just love you for using the metric system

[@whomadethatsaltysoup]

Fantastic tutorial, as ever. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.

[@bentswoodworking]

My pleasure!

[@stevendemarcus1321]

Good stuff for the beginner. Making the jump to 3 phase shapers, feeders, and insert tooling was the game changer for me. Then again I build cabinets to make a living, not just because I enjoy it.

[@georgeandexler683]

You do an excellent job of explaining cabinet builds. I have watched 2 other videos of yours. Thank you.

[@bentswoodworking]

Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying the videos.

[@winstonramroop3387]

A most perfect explanation and demonstrationn about making shaker doors using tools materials & machinery. No need to ask questions..GREAT TEACHER !

[@randalblair]

fantastic tutorial. Your videos have helped me to be much better at woodworking!

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad to hear that

[@w2ttsy670]

Amazing content. Would love to see your technique for doing micro shaker profiles. Most examples I’ve seen are slab doors on a CNC, so would be good to see alternative methods.

[@bentswoodworking]

Great suggestion!

[@dvntsmh]

Great suggestion indeed

[@GK-qz3cm]

Jason, great video. Will greatly help me improve my shaker doors. Thanks.

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad you found it helpful

[@brianhmonks]

Excellent video. I always do my cope cut first and then any tear out will be removed on the stick cut.

[@Overlegen_Dre]

I am about to make some doors for the closet. So this video is really helpful :)

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad it was helpful!

[@garybadger325]

Great video. I have always pencil marked my good faces (GF) of the rail and style and placed the GF down on the router table when routing. This always made sure the rails and stiles always matched up. Again, love the adjustable router bits.

[@Jackman8594]

Very nice!! I mark one side so even if the dado is slightly off centre they will always be flush as long as the marks are up

[@guybowers9094]

Great tutorial on the shaker door build. Going to use this method for sure

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad you found it helpful

[@AngieWilliamsDesigns]

Great video. I’ve not made shaker doors on the router table yet. Door looks great.

[@bentswoodworking]

Looks better now that you sprayed finish on it 😉

[@AngieWilliamsDesigns]

@@bentswoodworking RIGHT! Except that side that got smudged because my finger slipped when I was trying to be fancy spinning the lazy Susan. LOL. But we wont talk about that.

[@bikedad57]

what a great instructional video. Very clear. One question, when measuring for the length of the panel, why not just measure from inside rail to inside rail and just add the depth of the grooves x 2?

[@AliMohamed-hq6lr]

Thank you for the educational video. Continue following you from Qatar 👏🏻

[@fife2277]

Love these videos - I'm surprised by the lack of glue AND zero screws....wow

[@csimet]

I just finished making 40+ doors for my kitchen remodel using the Freud adjustable router bit set with an inside bevel (99-762). I used poplar for the rail/stiles, 1/2" plywood for the panels and will paint them. They came out perfectly and could not be more pleased. A coping sled is critical for making the rails IMHO, especially with most router table fences and I always cut them first... less tear-out. I prefer 1/2" plywood for the panels and trim the edge on the table saw to fit the grove. 1/2" provides way more "beef" for the door over 1/4". The only pain point was almost each and every cabinet had different dimensions. I came up with a spreadsheet where you enter the raw opening, the standard overhangs (mostly hinge type dependent), any optional/additional overhang desired (to match up the door gaps better), the router bit's tongue depth and the stock size. It provided accurate total stock lengths needed and rail, stile & panel cut lists that made it super easy, as well as a finished door size to check against the cabinet before you make them.

[@csimet]

BTW... happy to share it with anyone, but YT does not allow replies with links anymore. 😒

[@jamesharlanjohnson6882]

Great additional comments. I was thinking the same idea for a spreadsheet... Which is also a strong argument for going metric.

[@salazarrn1]

I made a very similar spreadsheet as well! Only way my mind could track 40+ doors. Nice even for a few.

[@salazarrn1]

I switched to metric because of Jason. Soooo much simpler.

[@ThierryC2373]

Next level, use a profile and counter profile bits on the inside of the face of the frame for an even better looking door.

[@gregj2647]

Good video. Do you ever add pin nails on the backside of the door through the tenon just in case there is a glue failure?

[@botch3936]

I admire your ability to futz with router bit nuts and washers over that open router table cabinet, without dropping anything in; I can't do that. ;).

[@robhoffman510]

Love your presentation style and content, Thank-You! I have done several panel doors just fine in my shop with 1/4” panel inserts but now my wife would like me to build wood grain shaker style pantry cabinets with thicker panels (3/8 or 1/2). Is it possible to use Wood veneer sided mdf and just router down the thickness to fit in the groove - or do I need to build solid panels and adjust for expansion?

[@brokenleadwoodworks]

Great video Jason. I have 4 shaker doors to make this week.

[@bentswoodworking]

Thanks buddy

[@elbebe1000]

You're the best. Thank you. I will make in the next project.

[@keytr0n13]

Thanks Jason. I appreciate your thoroughness. fyi, the link for the set up blocks is for an imperial set and I don't see that Igauging has a metric set at this time

[@petenelson8136]

Very timely build. My son just built a couple of bookcases and wants to put doors on bottom couple of shelves. This tutorial will certainly help when we go to make the doors. He built the bookcases onto the walls, so their not perfectly square. Any tips on how to hang doors in an opening that isn't perfectly square?

[@bentswoodworking]

If they are overlay, it’s easier to manipulate a box out of square

[@CampfireWoodworksRVA]

Best tutorial for shaker doors I’ve seen yet. Would be cool if install was part 2.

[@bentswoodworking]

I have a few videos on door install and a few to come

[@SimonHoning]

Lovely clear explication, as always.I tend to cheat a bit on sizing the panel: put the frame together, slip a metre long steel ruler into the groove on one end or side & eyeball/ guesstimate the panel size from there.Keeps things a bit more interesting!

[@danbyrne6501]

Nice and thorough

[@lesleyhiddins2067]

Brilliant tutorial, thank you

[@AlexFilkinMelb]

I love your videos. The only one that hopelessly confused me is the LR32 one!

[@bentswoodworking]

Well I guess that means I need to do another one. Lol

[@rogerweaver7686]

Excellent presentation.

[@williamevans1800]

I have to agree with Paulgreene9997. You are an outstanding teacher. You are very articulate on every detail that even a novice woodworker can follow you. Keep up the great work.

[@michaelzarutsky3624]

I was really confused about the adjustability of the grove cutter until I looked it up on Amazon... TWO cutters. Clever. Sort of a baby dado stack 😂. These aren't cheap, though. But a definite time saver, and once dialled in, you can run as many cabinet doors as you need through them... Thanks for the video and food for thought 😊 Bigger door is still a table saw thing, though. Max grove size on that Freud cutter is just over 9mm... On a separate note - you don't re-enforce the corners , do you? Are those four roughly 2" tongues going to hold it together? I know the panels aren't supposed to be glued in. But it's tempting...😂 A couple of dowels in each corner?

[@VictorSanchezFitness]

Great video. Been looking for a router table for a while and i want an incra as well but theres alot different models. You have a link for the one you have

[@codarussell7925]

You had a video about the nova drill press and woodpeckers DP pro drill press table. I’m trying to find it because I’m looking at doing the same setup, but can’t find the video. Can you point me to where it is please?

[@trev2417]

Brilliant video 👌😁

[@bentswoodworking]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@boomvader]

Great video! I noticed you ditched the G700. I’m curious why you opted for one much louder? Cheers, Jason!

[@James-dv1df]

Cool video, is it not easier just to do lose tenon rather than cutting with the second router cutter? Peter millard has a video where he shows making shaker style doors. He cuts tenons from the panel material waste and routers the styles on edges

[@markisom78]

I don't know if this is correct. But according to Freud router bits, you're supposed to subtract an eighth of an inch on the width to prevent wood expansion across the grain and a sixteenth of an inch length of the panel to prevent binding. I don't know if this correct or not, so was wondering what your input is on this.

[@bentswoodworking]

I think it depends on the wood and how much you expect it to move. If it’s a plywood panel or MDF then wood movement isn’t a concern. If it’s a solid wood panel, that’s a different story

[@jouzts3498]

Hey Jason great video as always!! Where can I get the little black hole covers you have on your mft table?

[@bentswoodworking]

Check out badyorkieworkshop on Instagram

[@arthurcervantes7287]

Bent, where did you get the plugs for your MFT.

[@drich6816]

I see you have a new DC. Why did you switch to the Oneida from there Harvery? I'm in that boat right now needing a new unit and the Harvey was on my list.

[@Timber2Toothpicks]

Awhile back you spoke up about Famag? (Spell) Forstner bits and or Brad Point Twist Bits. Do you still feel as solid with these bits now as you were then? I am ready to buy small sets. I have been considering Black Shark Forstner Bits then move over to Owl Brad Point Twist bits. Your opinion matters. I drill holes with hand held corded as well as cordless. I also now own a sweet Oliver Bench Top Drill Press. Looking for your up to date opinion. These will be lifetime bits because somehow I got old. Thank You Much. Thom Schuck, Portland, Oregon.

[@bentswoodworking]

Absolutely I do. I can’t imagine needing anything else. I have been considering getting an imperial bit set and when I do it will certainly be FAMAG if they make it

[@ChrisCanelake]

I like that freud adjustable router bit set, but only comes in 1/2" shank? I need a 1/4" and am having trouble finding. Let me know if you can help. Thanks!

[@jeffolsen3228]

Nice instruction and I’m use to building shaker style doors on the table saw, but getting a router table soon. My question relates to the Incra router table. How do you like it? Do you like the stand or if starting over would you build your own? I’m down to this router table and the Jessem ultimate excell II and leaning towards the Incra.

[@paintingwithatwistfriendsw392]

I like your Drill Sergeant hat😂

[@casenundra78]

I have already gone through the agony of rail and stile joinery using a fixed router bit set. What no one has gone over is how to determine the dimensions of a cabinet door for any particular face frame cabinet.

[@runforrestrun1965]

Stumpy Nubs recommends using 12mm material with a rebate all 4 sides which fit into the stiles and rails, instead of using thin mdf. What say you?

[@roxannehowe8746]

What tool do you use to measure the thickness of the wood?

[@glennirwin4710]

Spot on.

[@JohnRivera-qi7xq]

Great Video!

[@andrec230]

Hello, could I use these bits in a plunge router?

[@joenoe10]

I have a CT 26 dust collector - my issue is, when I travel to jobs with it, dust spills out of the port and makes a mess. My other dust collector has a flap to prevent that.

[@coldoldrice]

Curious why you don't use a shaper? Don't you go through a ton of router bits making doors all the time?

[@rrr92462]

Sorry if you've already answered this question, but your 20mm holes in your Festoll MFT looked plugged. Am I seeing this correctly?

[@takeamericaback1554]

Is using the parallel clamps better than using the dog holes and clamp it flat to the table. Just curious

[@kirkstoner3200]

Love the content, have ya reached 1000 yet ?

[@rufustoad1]

How much larger are the doors than the opening in the cabinet? Is there a standard?

[@CoRin-o4v]

I'm not a Pro, but wouldn't it be more precise (to get to an accurate center) if you used a thinner cutting head, flipped the wood after the first pass, then made another pass?

[@jeffreysmith5018]

Good stuff!

[@MaxBob24]

Can this be done with a handheld router, if you don’t have a table?

[@toddtempco5454]

No,

[@jerrygonzalez2369]

What size router are you using?

[@martinkrol3485]

I see you have many routers on the wall ,for wat reason would you need different kinds.

[@ptortland]

For the panel size, why not simply measure the interior dimensions and add 22mm to the width and height to account for the groove depth?

[@rickmoore2854]

What happened with the dust collector change? Inquiring minds want to know…

[@qwk351]

Ya what's up? Looks like an Oneida unit painted black :)

[@tommurphy6058]

NOTICED THAT MYSELF ACTUALLY WENT BACK TO SEE WHEN THIS VIDEO WAS MADE IS THERE A GOOD REASON OR A SPONSORSHIP ISSUE

[@NicktheDIYguy]

Do we need to worry about wood movement

[@salazarrn1]

Router height issue here, I have Bosch 2.25ho router in a Rockler lift. When making rails and stiles I have the bit eventually starts to drop ever so slightly. Found out the hard way the first time and now it’s a constant checking and adjusting. Reread the lift instructions but still have a slight issue with this. Anyone have any suggestions?

[@sethhamilton5824]

Your videos are excellent. This one is way too complicated. I run a cabinet shop and we make shakers completely on the table saw. The cleanest slot you can make (and adjust if you don’t just rebate the panel) is using a dado stack. Zero chip out especially on maple.

[@JamesScalf-q5k]

Why wouldn't you position the second clamp before clamping the first one? The door would at least be level on the second clamp.

[@adamweinstein505]

When using a bit set that has a profile, like a bead or ogee, cutting the tenon ends first eliminates tear-out in the corners.

[@kevinkoelliker475]

when your stating dimensions at times you only reference metric, could you PLEASE also convert thise to imperial

[@dirtychevyful]

You got a new dust collector? Did I miss a video?

[@joemartinez316]

I noticed the same thing. I was looking to purchase the Harvey but something tells me he discovered some things he didn’t like about it and hasn’t disclosed it yet.

[@3rdPartyIntervener]

so... you spent money on those fancy gauge blocks and used those to dial-in your router bit, but they were off and you had to eyeball it anyways??

[@robertlagrange6388]

I use a folding ruler to measure inside the grooves for the panel. No math required.

[@johnpisciotto5566]

Very professional video. Hate when they add clips from comedy or act like idiots. 👍👍👍

[@plast117]

I was pretty confused at about 9 minutes where you checked the fit but after you had taken off some extra by lowering the bit. I.e., your groove was thicker than it would have been if you had run a fresh piece of wood through the router at the new setting. Also, at about 22 minutes, I notice you didn't check the diagonals for squareness; were you confident enough because of the perfect fit of the panel?

[@linus_staf]

nice

[@semosancus5506]

I hate the tongue and groove profile exposed on the top of the door so I use a butt joint with dowels or dominos. Not as fast of course but looks worlds better.

[@moesawad]

You got to use your storage cart, I mean router table 😂

[@bentswoodworking]

Finally 🤣

[@BastianKevin666]

ALWAYS USE THE BALLS. There not for someone that can't measure. They're There because wood expands and contracts. Your doors seams WILL crack specially if you live somewhere that has high fluctuations in temperature.

[@toddm4321]

Especially when you use an mdf panel...

[@jeffponkratz8012]

If anyone has a link to where he explains "how to get the first bit to conform to the width of the panel" please message me. I love this lesson (and many of his others) in concept, but the instructions provided here fail to explain how to adjust the first bit to match the width of the panel you're using? He shows how to align the groove to the center of the stile/rail when cutting the panel grooves with the first bit, but completely fails to illustrate how that bit adjusts to the width of the panel.

[@natemaunders1]

As a “Pro Cabinet Maker” I’m fine with everyone knowing this information.