Frame and Panel 1: Making and Joining the Frame

Frame-and-panel construction is a fundamental strategy in woodwork, because it can accommodate woods inevitable seasonal expansion and shrinkage.

In this video, the first of a two-part series, Graham Blackburn tackles the basic frame. He explains the functions and design opportunities of stiles, rails, and muntins and shows you how to combine them into a frame. He also shows you how to think out the proportions of the frame parts and their relation to the panel they contain.

Working with both classic hand tools and common woodworking machines, Blackburn joins his frame members with mortises and haunched tenons. He shows you how to get a perfect match between the mortises and the grooves that take the panel.

At the end of the video he demonstrates drawboring -- a traditional method of making tight joints in a frame, without glue.