American door and American panel door drawing in Alphacam

In the Turkish trade "American" names two different products: the American door is a classic-looking cabinet door with one or more recessed panels and profiled edges; the American panel door is an interior door leaf with a pressed HDF skin (or routed solid/MDF) and several panels. What they share on the CNC is the panel layout; what differs is scale and hardware (hinge/lock recesses on the leaf). This article covers both, step by step in Alphacam.

Geometry of the American door

Four geometry layers:

• Outer contour (KESIM): rectangle, corners R2–R5.
• Panel rectangles (DESEN/KANAL): one inner rectangle per panel; stile width between panels.
• Profile line (PROFIL): a closed line around each panel that the profile cutter follows; outside the panel rectangle by the profile width.
• Holes (DELIK): hinge cup and handle; from the back.

Panel and profile are drawn on separate layers because separate cutters machine them: the panel floor with a flat cutter (pocket or groove), its surround with a profile cutter. On one layer Auto Style assigns one operation and the profile is lost.

Panel layout: ratios and rules

Applied by hand the rule drifts from door to door; in a parametric macro the height thresholds and ratios are defined once and the macro picks or proposes the layout. Framed Door in GMacros Cabinet Door derives single/multi-panel inner lines from the door size; Door Decorative Frames in GMacros Door does the same on a door leaf with 2- or 3-panel layouts. Structure: How Alphacam-based parametric door and cabinet door macros work

Profile cutter and depth

The profile makes the American look: an 8–15 mm wide, 4–8 mm deep stepped or curved transition at the panel edge. A profile cutter (Roman ogee, quarter round) machines it in one pass; feed is reduced at panel corners (corner burn). If the door will be membrane-wrapped, the depth and radius limits in Membrane door drawing in Alphacam: pattern, cutters, depth and holes apply — the American pattern is the most demanding for membrane, inner corners need ≥ 3 mm radius. A lacquered finish has no limit; a corner clean-up cutter adds sharp corners.

American panel interior door: extra work on the leaf

If an interior door leaf (commonly 2,050–2,100 × 700–900 × 40 mm) is produced with the American look, the decorative frames are on both faces (flipped machining or two NC files). In addition:

• Hinge pockets: 2–4 hinges by leaf height, commonly 3; 200–250 mm top/bottom; hinge length 100–120 mm, depth = hinge thickness. CEP layer + screw holes on DELIK.
• Lock body pocket: 1,000–1,050 mm from the floor; body size per brand (e.g. 16 × 80 × 160 mm deep); machined from the leaf edge — on most routers a horizontal aggregate or a separate machine.
• Handle and cylinder holes: on the lock axis; drilled through the face, aligned on both sides.

GMacros Door compute all three from the door size: when the height changes, the hinge distribution is re-divided and the lock height stays fixed. On a pressed-HDF American panel door there is no pattern on the CNC (the surface comes from the press); only hardware recesses are machined — the same macro package applies.

Operation order and nesting

1. Panel floor (flat cutter, pocket/groove) — DESEN
2. Profile (profile cutter) — PROFIL
3. Holes — DELIK
4. Through cut — KESIM, with tabs

Doors are nested with the grain direction locked (the panel profile must read parallel to the grain); in Alphacam the part is marked "no rotation". Nesting settings: Alphacam nesting guide: sheet layout, waste, grain direction and labels