Trimming cabinet doors

Here’s a useful tablesaw setup for trimming the horns off small frame-and-panel doors.

First, rip a piece of straight stock about 2 in. wide, and crosscut it a little shorter than the distance between the horns. This piece is the alignment block. Now move the saw fence toward the blade a distance equal to the thickness of the blade, about 1/8 in. With the saw running, just barely put the block into the blade to make sure the fence has been moved a distance exactly equal to the blade’s thickness.

Now put the block between the horns, and hold the door and block against the fence as you cut off the horn. If you’ve set it up correctly, the cut will be exactly flush with the stile.

Lift the door up and away as soon as you’ve cut through the horn, and repeat the process for all the other corners of the door. And be sure to clear the horn offcuts from the blade as you proceed.

Brian Everest, Nelson, B.C., ca