math

I’m no cabinet maker, but 4” stiles on a 12” door are going to look way out of proportion. Something in the 2 1/2 range would look a lot better.

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

Door size will depend on overlay vs inset. The cabinets I build are faceframes and my doors are 1/2” overlay. The math on that opening for width would be. [(25 5/8 + 1) – 1/8] X 1/2 = 13 1/4 ” doors. This factors in the 1/2 overlay and 1/8” space between the doors.

Rails and stiles usually are a constant width and I most often make them 2 1/2” with a 7/16” groove. My panel math looks like this given 13 1/4 wide door. 13 1/4 – (2 1/2 + 2 1/2) + (7/16 + 7/16) = 9 1/8 ” panel.
I take final panels sizes and subtract an extra 1/4” for space balls.

Substitute your number accordingly, but as Topamx said wide staile will look funny on narrow doors.

-- http://www.niceashplanes.com/ http://www.efcabineture.com/

Thanks I’m going with 2” stiles and rails

Jim K

Someone taught me, years ago, to make the bottom rail wider. It has to do with eye appeal I guess. no one has ever commented on it and I like the effect. On most cabinets I have used 2 inch rails and styles on inset doors and 2 1/2 inch on over lay doors. The bottom rail is 3 inches and 3 1/2 respectively. The rail and stile cutters I used all cut a 3/8 deep by 1/4 groove for the panel. For plywood panels, I cut the panel really close to actual size and then dry fit to get it prefect. On solid wood panels I cut at least 1/16th smaller and in wet climates it’s best to allow 1/8. If you will check my projects and look at “The kitchen at 404 Blackaby Street”, you will see several doors in the size range you describe.

-- Thos. Angle, Jordan Valley, Oregon

Just double check to make sure your stiles are wide enough to fit your hinges. I learned this the hard way, and you can see it on one of my projects posted here. See if you can spot it!

-- My broker promised me he would treat my money as if it were his own. Trouble is, he did.

Maybe I should have stated before the doors are 72” tall.

Jim K.

If you haven’t already cut them, consider this. The hinge side needs more strength on the rails. It is also nice visually on a double door to make the whole of both doors look balanced when they are closed. This makes the center edge rail 1/2 or close to the the thickness of the hinge rail. But, strength is also a consideration. 2 3/4 ” hinge rails and 1 1/2” edge rails will give a more balanced look when closed. Also, leave at least 1/8” clearance on the hinge sides and the center (so subtract 3/8” form total width of both doors, making each door 12 5/8” wide). If you want the doors to touch on the inside edge when closed, bevel them back about 3 degrees toward the inside on the mating edge. Otherwise the inside edge may catch before they are fully closed (depends on how square and straight the casing is if it is a closet, and if you inset the hinges or not. Closet casings are rarely straight top to bottom, so find the minimum width to base your dimensions on. Planing a bevel on the inside edge is something you can do when fitting and hanging the doors).

I am assuming this is a closet or cabinet. Entry doors have thicker stiles for the center (where the knob is) and the bottom (where feet are used to assist) than at the top. That is where the main stress comes when opening or closing. Wider width on the center and bottom also assist in the end glue joint to support the outer rail from sagging, where the top is not a big player. On a narrow door like this, stiles the width of the hinge stile will probably be okay, but you may consider upping then to 4” or at least the width of your stock wood cleaned up. Best to draw out a scaled drawing to get an idea of how the dimensions look to you.

JTCW

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730