Make sure you read the
CMS Supplemental Manual because it discusses the various methods for doing frame and panel door construction. You can also see some of the router bits I use for making doors. (I actually use shaper cutters more often, but I do have a couple of router bit sets too.)
Generally speaking, there are two types of cope and stick (stile and rail) router bits. You can use a single, reversible bit, or a twin bit set. The twin bit set uses a dedicated bit for the cope cut and a dedicated bit for the stick cut. The reversible bit has to be disassembled and the cutters reconfigured for the two mating cuts. The reversible bit is less expensive, but it requires more setup to reverse the cutters. I prefer the twin bit sets myself.
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The router bits come with different profiles, and I try to match the shape of the stile/rail profile to the shape of the panel raiser I happen to be using. I have several different ogee panel raisers and at least one cove raiser. So I also have a couple of different ogee and cove cope and stick cutters to match. A chamfer profile would be another common shape, but I don't have any of them.
My manual goes through the pros and cons of doing the cope cut first or doing the cope cut last. I prefer to do cope cut last, but it does require more setup and is not as common with hobbyist woodworkers. I started doing it years ago because it lets me use the power feeder on my shaper to climb-cut the long rail stock. To accomplish this without tearout, I make a coping sled so that I route both pieces at the same time, and it has a shaped (cope cut) backer that mates with the stick cut already on the rails.
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Panel raisers can be vertical or horizontal. A vertical panel raiser requires that you stand your door panel vertically on its edge to route the profile. It is best used when you have a smaller or underpowered router, because it has a smaller effective diameter. I generally use horizontal panel raisers so the panel lays flat on the table while routing.
Some router bits come with a back cutter. This allows the panel to be centered in the grove of the door frame. Instead of using a back cutter, I simply lower the panel raiser and use it to make a back cut. The picture below shows the largest panel raiser you can install in the CMS OF1400.
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