Freud 94-150 Door System

[Mister Pants]

I’d been wanting to pick up a rail/stile door kit for a while, and on my last trip to Rockler, they had the Freud 94-150 adjustable system on sale for $169 ($100 off the regular price). I thought I was immune to impulse buys, but that went on the counter along with the purchases I went in for, a tin of famowood and some glue brushes (aren’t impulse buys supposed to be cheaper than what you went in for?). Given that I had been about to swing home to make some raised panel doors the old fashioned way this turned out to be serendipitous.

The kit comes with five bits: a raised panel bit with an ogee profile, the rail and stile bits, as well as the glue joint bit and a door lip bit. It also includes a foldout glossy manual and a small dvd with instruction, all in a nice and solid carrying case.

After a quick perusal of the manual (which tore on me when I opened it), and a quick once over of the DVD, I took my milled stock (5/8” thick) and a little scrap to test the cuts. Threw in the rail bit and made the stub tenons as per the instructions. The cuts were nice and crisp. Resetting it with the stile bit, and making the quick adjustment matching the top of the stile cutter with the top of the stub tenon (using my finger as the measuring device) and ran the stiles. First attempt, a perfectly flush cut and a nicely fitting rail and stile.

Next up I chucked in the ogee profiled raised panel bit. As there is no back-cutter with the included bit (and unfortunately the instructions and dvd reference a back-cutter), this took a little time, roughly five minutes, with some scrap to get the height correct. I made the raised cuts in three passes. No burning (on any pass), no tearout and a very smooth final.

Elapsed time for a neophyte, who’d never made a raised panel door with any router kit to make two doors (not including milling my stock) roughly fifteen minutes.

Pros

- The bits are high quality and make very crisp cuts

- Very easy to setup and use for a first time user to get highly satisfactory results

- Easily adaptable for multiple thicknesses, as well as extended tenons

- Includes two additional bits (I have yet to use so no review)

- The DVD is comprehensive and covers all the topics as does the glossy manual. The math formula they provide to size your pieces works well.

Cons

- The manual is one of those fold up types (like a map), with its thick stock the action of simply opening the manual tore it in several places

- The manual and dvd both speak about a back cutter when discussing the raised panel bit. The raised panel bit does not come with a back-cutter. There is an oblique reference to setting up without a back cutter, but nothing is discussed or shown. It would have been far , clearer if they showed both methods, setting up for the raised panel with the back cutter and without.

The cons I’ve seen so far are extraordinarily minor and are certainly outweighed by the pro’s. While I’m not sure I’d have been as willing to part with $270, for the sale price of $170, especially with the amount of casework I have on my to do list, makes this et worth it for me.

[rodger.]

Nice review. Can you post a few pics? Also, does the raised panel sit flush with the stiles and rails, or is it slightly proud?

[Mister Pants]

a I'll try to post some pics later. With respect to the panel it can either be flush or proud, it depends on how thick you make your stock. In my case it's proud as I made the blank the same thickness as my rails and stiles.

Here's a pic of the finished door product, not the best pic unfortunately but I was rushing to get the job done .

[ChetlovesMer]

Great review,

I have a couple of Frued kits and I'd say your review is spot on.

Thanks for posting it.