I'm new to this website and thought it would be a good place to get some advice. I am trying to make rail and stile cabinet doors with 1/4" plywood panel and maple frame. I purchased Freud adjustable rail and stile router bits, so I could adjust for the plywood panel, which is slightly less than 1/4". I made a practice door before starting, and everything worked fine. The rails and stiles fit snuggly, but not tight, after I adjusted the bits. For this door, however, I used poplar, since I had some on hand, and didn't think this would make a difference. Today I worked on making 2 doors, using maple now, however, but I was having problems with the rails and stiles being loose when put together. I hadn't adjusted the rail and stile router bits since making the practice door from the poplar, though. I then tried adjusting the bits using the shim/spacer, but adding one shim (the thinnest one) to the bit which cut the tongue to make it thicker, and did a practice peice to check the fit. Now the tongue was too thick for the groove. So I have a few questions:
1. Would router bits work any different on maple than on poplar in terms of the loose fitting rails and stiles with maple?
2. The thinnest shim/spacer is not thin enough to adjust the router bit so the rails and stiles fit comfortably - snug, but not tight. Can someone recommend how to move forward? I love the router bits, aside from this issue right now.
3. If I were to assemble the doors when the rails and stiles fit loose, would they hold?
Thanks for any input!