 Firstly you need
to cut some blanks to the size of the door you are making - they
should be rectangular with clean straight edges - I use the router
with a 5mm straight cutter and run it along a straight edge. You
also need a jig ->
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 The jig has to
hold the door steady and provide 'sides that stick up for the router
to run along. I use a jig with 3 sides - you could make one with
four - I find it trickier to adjust. This one is made with a ply
base - 2 battens screwed to the edges and a third one screwed down
to fit the door
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The work piece is then clamped
into the jig - don't forget to put a piece of scrap wood between
the clamp and the door to prevent the clamp marking it. |
Next an initial cut is made
- I used a'V' cutter - this first cut is not to the full depth.
Note the router is run along the batten - routers should always
be used in the 'correct' direction otherwise they will pull away
from the batten. |
Now the tricky bit - I found
by experimenting that if I rolled the router through the corners
it put a nice corner piece into the routing. The router I have,
has a base which has two flat sides - you need this to do this trick
- some have only one. The thing is to experiment and see what you
can achieve |
Here we see
that I've turned the first corner - you can just see the 'corner
piece'
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Now we are on a roll. When
turning the corners its essential to maintain a steady pressure
into the corner so the router does not come away from the guide
battens - I can post some pictures of ones that went wrong if anyone's
interested! This is the reason I only do two corners at a time -
walking round the workpiece seems to lead to mistakes! |
One end of the door done
- don't forget, don't try and do the full depth of cut in one go
(unless you are having a very shallow pattern). I find you can do
it in two to three passes. Now you have to remove the door from
the jig, turn it round, clamp it back in the jig and do the other
end. |
 Do it right and
you end up with this. It looks OK but the edges lack a little something
- Back to the router!
|
Clamp your door like this
so you can run round three edges |
Next select your cutter to
rout the edge - again, a little experimentation is worth it at this
stage to get the look you like. |
Rout around the three edges
and the turn the piece round to do the fourth. This kind of routing
is easy after routing the panel - just take two or three passes
and make sure your cutter is set to the right depth on the last
one!
Lastly, use a little fine
sand paper to remove the 'feathers' left by the router |
If you are making kitchen
doors you might want to fit standard unit hinges for which you need
a 32mm diam hole in just the right place - Screwfix will sell you
a cutter for £30 or if you are a scrooge like me, cut a hole
in a scrap piece of 3mm ply and using the template follower that
comes with a router cut the hole out to the right depth using a
5mm straight cutter. Make sure the hole is set at the right distance
from the edge by attaching a small batten to your template which
simply slides up to the edge of the door. |
One hole all ready for the
hinge |
A perfect fit! |
 One door
fitted to the cupboard
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 And finished with
a small brass knob
|
 Hope this has
helped in some way - it's a relatively quick and easy way to make
an attractive solid door
Good luck!
Chris |
