Shaker Kitchen Cabinets

I am preparing to build my new kitchen cabinets. I live in a log home and want a rustic look. I do not want to use alder because it is too popular here in my community, so I've decided to use hickory. I am concerned about tear-out when cutting the groove in the stiles. Will it be best for me to use a dado blade in my 3 hp unisaw or a router bit set in my 3 hp elu router. I will be doing shaker style stiles and rails with slightly more rustic panels.

-John
Park City, UT

Our Expert

You'll get a cleaner cut with a router bit and using several light passes. I suggest Amana Tool Mission Style Cabinet Door Set no.55438. This stile-&-rail bit set will give you the simple Shaker look that you're after.

For the first cut, position the fence on the router table so that the router bit lightly scores the wood surface. Because hickory is such a tough, elastic wood you may want to take 3 or four passes to eliminate the possibility of tearout.

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