aloha everyone,

i have a project where i need to reduce the width of a cope & stile cabinet door w/ a fixed flat panel. i know everyone is thinking; yeah, so just make another one?!?

the door panels are architecturally matched curly koa and the owners want to retain the sequence in the grain. there are six doors 32"h by 24"w with 2" stile and 2" rail. i need to resize the first and last door to 20"w.

my question is, does anyone know of a way to do this easily? i was going to cut the stile off and recut the coping joint. the problem as i see it is keeping the integrity of the panel which needs to be wider than the rail.

has anyone tried to open a coped joint? think it would be easier to open joint while door is intact or after stile is removed. i should mention that any joint would work, mortise tenon, biscuit, etc as long as i can match ogee in front.

i could use some collective woodworkers ideas, comments, horror stories and hopefully successful strategies. mahalo in advance. stay safe and dont let the virus bite. fyi i know, i know, i'm out of my mind thinking this will work. its a by product of being home for the last month. at least i haven't seen any twins running around. lol

trades 15-20 mph
surf 5-6 ft nw
80 degrees F

 

I don't know of a way to open a glued joint. If it is a loose there may be a way to do it. Do you have a bit that matches the profile of stile? Cut door close to stile And than run your bit through ends to re make rail end. Door panel should slide out to work on it.
There are machine shops that can make a bit to fit job.Google this and I found several sites that make bits.
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