Todd wrote: I'm in the process of making a shop cabinet on top of which will
be the
resting place of my planer. This is my first attempt at cabinet
construction. I'm mostly following along with "Building Your Own Kitchen
Cabinetry" by John Paquay to guide me through the process. I'm doing this
not only to get the planer off of the top of the cardboard box it came in,
but also to practice my cabinet-making skills in case I ever get the idea
that my wife will let me build kitchen cabinets. I have the carcasses
constructed (I'm guessing that was the easy part), and now I'm thinking
about doors and drawers. I'm making the cabinet as a whole out of two 18"
wide cabinets. One cabinet will just have a big door for adjustable
shelves, and the other cabinet will be all drawers. My question regards the
door. My preference would be to use a stile and rail router bit set and use
a plywood insert for the panel. However, $50-100 for a stile and rail bit
for a one-off door isn't making me happy. My little woodworking brain tells
me that a few options are

1. Use a tongue and groove construction for the door frame. Use a dado to
cut the slot for a plywood panel.
2. Make a solid door either out of solid wood or perhaps edge-banded
plywood.

How would you make a door if you were short a stile and rail set?

todd
Considering that it's a shop cabinet, I'd go with option one or two. If your
wife ever let's you build the kitchen cabs, then SHE'LL have to decide if the
expense of the bit set is worth it. It probably will be. Luckily (or not), my
wife decided on slab doors, so I've yet to buy a rail and stile set-up. But
with something like that, you might have to practice some. Say, on your shop
cabinets. ; ) That's like, the second "emoticon" I've ever used.Tom
Someday, it'll all be over....