Five Piece Door Sizing Question

[Kerry Fullington]

In the Five Piece Door Sizing Dialog there is a box for Perimeter Machining Allowance. The function of this allowance does not make sense to me. It lengthens the stiles and rail length to allow for machining but if you were enter a 1/8" allowance and the stiles and rails are lengthened by this much then that much is machined off, the door size would be correct but the stiles and rails would be narrowed by that much. Most other software I have used increases the width of the door stile and rail material so that when they are machined the door size and the stile and rail width are correct. I use a 1/8" allowance and 1/16" is removed on the stick (inside bead) cut and 1/16" is then removed after the door is assembled in cutting the edge profile. With this the door size is correct and the stile/ rail widths are un-altered.
Is there another purpose for the Perimeter Machining Allowance?

[Josh Rayburn]

Hi Kerry,
I've found that some shops (when they make their own doors) will trim a perimeter off the outside of the door after it's assembled to make sure it's square and their alignment is good from the bottom and top of the stiles to the rails - of course if you cut it afterwards it would be aligned perfectly.
Personally I just assemble the door square and then it's everything it's supposed to be - but there are times when I've trimmed doors to fit an existing opening that might not be square, in this case it's good to give a little perimeter. Of course the other thing you could do is just oversize the door instead, but either way that's what the feature does.
In cases where I've got face frames and SOSS hinges, it's very handy, I will add a 1/32 perimeter all around then bevel the edges and touch it with the plane to get it perfect. Then my stiles and rails are all within 1/128th of being the right size.
jnr

[Kerry Fullington]

Josh,

You would still have a problem. If you build a door with 2 1/2" stiles and add the 1/8" machining allowance, eCabinets just makes the door 1/4" bigger. When you trim the 1/8" off all the way around you will now have 2 3/8" stiles. The allowance needs to make the stile and rail stock wider not the door bigger.

Kerry

[Josh Rayburn]

Wow, I wonder if that has been changed. I'll have to try it again - haven't used it in at least a couple years. Or my memory could just be going.....going....gone....?
I could swear that's how it worked from my experience but............

[Ray Jorgensen]

Kerry, Here's how I do the doors to come out with the right size on the Rails and stiles.

Let's say you want 2.5" finished size. Put in that you want 2.5625 with a .0625 machining allowance. Cut the stock at 2.625. The machine will profile the part to 2.5625 and then final machine the parimeter leaving a 2.5" R & S. Works great.

[Kerry Fullington]

Ray,

It still doesn't work the way it should because eCabinets changes the size of the door only instead of changing the material stock sizes.

If I build a 12" X 12" door with 2 2/2" stiles and rails, a 3/8" tongue and a 5/16" panel inset with no Perimeter machining allowance my panel size is 7 5/8" X 7 5/8" which is correct.

If I place a 1/16" perimeter machining allowance in eCabinets the whole door grows and my panel is then 7 3/4" X 7 3/4" which is wrong and my stiles and rails will be wrong because I will be trimming them 1/8" in height and width.

If I try to trick eCabinet with your system my panel is then made smaller at 7 1/2" X 7 1/2" which is wrong.

We need to be able to add machining allowances for rail length (cope cut) if needed and for the stile and rail width for stick cuts and finished edge cuts. These will not change panel size but will adjust the size of the stock to allow for machining.

[Ray Jorgensen]

Kerry,

I never checked the panel size. All I know is that I end up with the right size rails and stiles and after the perimeter cut the door is exactly the size it should be as well as absolutely square. I just finished up this week on 40 doors and they all fit perfectly. I know it's not the perfect solution, but it gets the job done.

[Vince Lisanti]

Hi Kerry,

Whenever I use the door editor for cutlisting with the perimeter machining allowance if I make the allowance 1/16", I will just add 1/16" onto the rail and stile widths under Non- Thermwood Door Settings and the end result does not alter the panel size.

So if I want to end up with 2 1/2" stile and rails I will enter 2 9/16" with a 1/16" machining allowance.

If I use your 12 x 12 door size that you listed above and these settings with a 3/8" tongue and a 5/16" panel inset the panel is 7 5/8" just as it should be.

After sizing the door to the final dimension you will get a 12 x 12 door with 2 1/2 inch stiles and rails.

I do not like having to trick the system like this either, but it does work when you do.

[Kerry Fullington]

Thanks Vince, Ray,

I guess what I am trying to get across here is that the software should do the thinking for me. We should be able to enter finished stile and rail width and machining allowances for our particular setup and the software would calculate the widths and lengths of our rough stock to show in the cut list. eCabinets does not do this. You must use a workaround. There also needs to be a way to enter a machining allowance for cope cuts if needed. This allowance would lengthen the rails for the amount removed in cope cuts.

the Door/Drawer Front Designer is another place in the eCabinets software that was never quite finished. It needs better functionality. We need the ability to add mid rails and stiles for multi panel doors and muntins and mullions for glass doors and the ability to cut list those with proper machining allowances.

Software is supposed to do things for us to simplify our lives.

[Ray Jorgensen]

Kerry, I agree with you, It's took me lots of thought and trials to come up with the work around. I would also love to see the mid rail-stile option.