Rail Stile Frame and Panel

Making rail stile panels is the construction I like the best as hobbyist woodworker. Such assembly enables for frames and doors as well as wainscoting walls with the same joinery technique but don't mistake : what follows is not the fastest way and aims those who love woodworking and think that an hour spend in their workshop is an hour of happiness.

Overview


Moreover such technique does not require many cutter heads but a single saw blade going from the table saw to the spindle moulder since the saw arbour and spindle moulder shaft diameter are identical. You may also see below my way of adjusting the blade height on the spindle moulder with rings and shims then the lift mechanism allows for micro adjustment.

Tooling


The rail style fame making process is part in two cycles so that improving accuracy and minimizing measurements. The first round encompasses the frame and the two stiles then the intermediates rails are machined secondly. The below photos show no more than that tenoning method and the mitring stick frame making document provides more details.

Frame Tenons


Keeping on the table saw the mitring recesses are machined in two steps. The first cuts shape then the second clear the recess accommodating the stick. Here the transparent over guard allows for the user to look at the workpiece when crosscutting and prevents the little triangles from being thrown toward the body.

Frame Notches


The second cycle shapes only the two stub tenons of the intermediate rails.

Intermediate Rail Tenons


The mortiser table attachments are very convenient with soft wood where the hold-down can easily mark but also in this context with several mortises for each stop gauge position. Then squaring the mortises or rounding the tenons enables for a dry assembly.

Mortise and Dry Assembly


The small rabbet and the groove are machined along the rip fence in height position then the planer fence locked on the sliding table guides the frame elements throught the saw blade to form a chamfer that could also be shaped on the spindle moulder but not along the rip fence at the right of the blade.

Moulding

Finally machining the small raised panels complete the work as shown in the top picture.