sign in sign up
<<
Home , Frame and panel, Ogee, Spindle (furniture)

d l a n o D ac as M i atth D M N n A to r Sef e t f Pe o y s e rt u o PHOTOGRAPHS C Time honoured tradition Peter Sefton looks at two methods for Bow and twist producing perfect raised and fielded panels

anel and frame For example, if a was made has been around in of one solid 600mm wide plank of Psince the early 1600s when tangentially sawn timber – through makers realised that primitively made and through timber – it may be liable solid plank led to to shrink by up to 4-5mm. This is and chests that would suffer greatly naturally dependent upon its original from seasonal change; as timbers moisture content and the surrounding dried out, they would warp, split and room environment. It would also twist at will. Constructing panels suffer from the twisting and warping within mortise and tenoned frames already mentioned. gave much better control of timber However, when a panel is held movement. Allowing the panel to within a frame, it is able to move ‘’ within a strong, stable frame in a controlled manner within the which held the panel flat, allowed framework, and the dimensions of for controlled movement of the the overall door are governed by the panel. Now doors and chests could movement of the stiles alone. So be constructed that would be less when door stiles are made of a good susceptible to seasonal changes quartersawn timber, a seasonal change and they would be less likely to in overall dimensions may be down bind in the wet, winter months and to as low as 0.5mm, over the same The width of the solid conversely be loose fitting in the 600mm wide door, and therefore panel door will grow, warmer, drier months. makes the frame much more reliable. shrink and twist at will

42 F&C194 www.woodworkersinstitute.com PROJECTS & TECHNIQUES Fielded panels Panel and frame constructions

Timber selection and consideration to always feel this is a poor construction and tenon frames are glued up and future timber movement is an essential as any warping of a solid panel, is assembled around the panel. Any part of good making and likely to pull the beads out if they excess glue squeezing out of the constructions are only pinned in. Pinning of beads mortises will then attach itself to the overcome some movement issues. I feel should be kept for glazed or corners of the panels and glue the If we think of a panel and frame mirrored panels within frames to allow panel in place, thus stopping its free construction as a painting that floats for future removal if broken panels movement. Panels should be stained within a picture frame, starting with need replacing. I normally follow the and/or finished prior to assembly to the frame, we can use quartersawn constructional sequence of mortise; overcome this, with added wax on timber which is very stable but can tenon; ; and finally mould and the corners to repel any glue. But we be rather plain to look at – unless scribe the frame – if required – before don’t want the panel to rattle in its we can utilise the medullary rays moving on to making and fitting the frame, so I would suggest it is good that create visual interest typical of actual panel. practice to spot glue the panel in the English or lace . The panel Panels can come in many forms; flat middle, at the top and bottom. This then becomes the canvas where or MDF veneered – which should be enough to hold the panel we can use crown cut or flat sawn are subject to minimal movement – but allow free movement from its through and through timber. This can and can be glued all-round to form a vertical centre line. give us much more interesting grain very strong frame construction. patterns although inevitably more You can also have more traditional timber movement issues. Burr and solid timber panels with either fielded, spalted timbers come into their own coved and or the more ornate for this type of panel construction as linen fold and carved profiles. One Glass or mirror has a pinned they may not have the strength within of the Cotswold School’s and my themselves for individual use or in own favourites is the overlaid raised unsupported structures but do have panel that requires a more refined and Stile such beauty that they beg to be used accurate level of craftsmanship. Other to enhance furniture. styles can have curved or gothic I would always recommend setting arched top rails with panels to match. panels within mortise and tenoned The one thing all these solid panels MDF or ply panel can frames – or Dominos for speed of have in common is the construction be glued all round production – rather than , must encapsulate the panel within into the groove which I feel are never as strong. Either the frame whilst allowing it to move. way, they should be set within grooves These solid timber panels must not be Stile and for me these should be through glued in around their outer edges, as grooves that support the tenon’s this would restrict their free movement haunch to prevent the rails from within the frame and if they did try to twisting – unless a sloping or secret shrink, they would then tend to split. haunch is required for aesthetic One thing to watch out for is design reasons. Panels can be set that these panels can accidentally Room for expansion into rebates and beaded in, but I become glued in, as the mortise Stile Field panel

The tongue should Quartersawn timber be parallel around frame remains the groove stable and holds the panel flat

Stile Coved panel

Solid panels should not be glued into the groove

The tangentially sawn panel is allowed to expand and contract and Moulded stile glued at its centre Ogee profile point only Solid panels can be glued at the top and bottom on their centreline

Bottom rail is wider than the stiles Stile

An overlaid raised ➤ panel is tricky to make www.woodworkersinstitute.com F&C194 43 ➤ Making a fielded panel

The English sycamore (Acer it’s a very good quality solid steel Whitehill have a good selection of psuedoplatanus) fielded panel cutter block that has cutters and off-the-shelf profile cutters. Any good shown here was made by one of limiters so that it is legal to use supplier that provides a cutter my students, Matt. The panel was on a hand-fed moulder. grinding service should be able to produced on the spindle moulder I bought this block as it can be used make up cutters and limiters to your using a Whitehill panel head block; with either HSS or TCT cutters and own designs.

Matthias MacDonald’s spalted sycamore fielded panel is The Whitehill panel head block gives a very good quality finish to the fielded panels allowed to float within a quartersawn sycamore frame

Under or over? When ordering cutters you need to the cutters more, and cause a kickback specify whether you require under or situation, where the panel can be over cutters. With over cutters the grabbed and thrown back violently. cutter block and cutters sit above My preferred option is always to use the panel being moulded. This gives under cutters, where the panel face a constant thickness to the tongue, to be moulded lays flat on the spindle which is sized to suit the grooved table and acts as a guard covering rails; the groove normally matches the the block. This is easier to guard and size of the mortise. it feels safer having the majority of However, you should be very the block below the spindle table. cautious when using over cutters. When this method is used, the setting When using the cutter block above the up of the false is easier with panel it is difficult to maintain a good little chance of the panel dipping running surface or false fence for the in between the fences, a cause of panel edge to run along. This leaves kickback. The possible downside to the operator far more exposed to the this method is that if your thickness revolving cutter block. Also if the panel planer is not accurate across its The spindle block is being used above the fielded panel. This is difficult to were to be loose under the Shaw width, your panel’s thickness may guard but does guarantee a uniform thickness of the tongue guards then any movement of the panel vary and this will be translated onto away from the spindle moulder table the panel leaving you with a tongue of have to be hand fitted to suit the would bring the panel into contact with varying thickness which would then previously produced groove.

False False fence fence Fence Spindle block Fence Spindle block Above cutter Under cutter

Panel Panel

False bed

Spindle bed Strong continuous piece of wood to form false fence runner

44 F&C194 www.woodworkersinstitute.com PROJECTS & TECHNIQUES Fielded panels Raised panel

This is a very attractive and technically difficult panel to make. The frame is grooved in the same way as general panel construction but the panel is also grooved along its edge as well as having a fielded or moulded element to its face. When the frame is assembled, the panel appears to sit on top of the door frame and this is a great construction to use when you are trying to emphasise the beauty of the panel alone. The main difficulty lies in the fact that the face of the door frame must be very flat and clean before assembly, as once the panel is fitted within the door frame, any sanding or cleaning up of the face of the frame is hard to achieve, once glued up. If too much or sanding is done before assembly, this will leave an unsightly gap under the panel; meaning the panel will not look flat in its frame. Matt also spindle moulded these panels, using the Whitehill panel block and a grooving . The raised panel is grooved into the frame and sits over its face. Very accurate working is required to produce this panel. Work by Matthias MacDonald

Minimising cross grain break-out

When moulding panels on all four edges, we must take precautions Mould across to minimise break-out. This is done end grain by following an order of cutting; the first cut is always across the end grain, the panel is then rotated anti- clockwise with the second cut with the grain, removing any break-out formed from the first cross grain cut. The panel is then rotated anti- clockwise again twice more, for cutting in the same manner

1 3

Rotate anti-clockwise and mould other end

2 4

Rotate anti-clockwise Rotate anti-clockwise ➤ and mould long grain and mould last edge

www.woodworkersinstitute.com F&C194 45 PROJECTS & TECHNIQUES Fielded panels

➤ Curved top rails

The panel is finished and waxed before the The arched top panel was produced with a large diameter Producing the fielded panel with a hand-held is not for door is assembled and glued up cutter from Wealden. Remember to reduce the rpm of the the fainthearted; if a router table is available, use it router in accordance with the manufacturer’s specification

The English (Castanea heavy router with such a large cutter moulded or fielded profile. This sativa) door frame I have made here on the face of the panel is not for the ensures – in a perfect world – that has a curved top rail; in this example, fainthearted or inexperienced! This the corners of the merging moulds or I decided to make it with the hand- router cutter has an ogee profile that fields, strike the frame at a perfect 45º held router. This was partly because gives a very attractive curved effect, and meet the frame’s corners. After the Wealden router cutter I chose which is particularly noticeable on the the panel has been fully moulded, I comes with an optional bearing on it corners where the mitred appearance reduce the width by 1-2mm either which makes life so much easier when really comes to life. side – depending on its overall following the curved top of the panel, The cutter is ground correctly, in width – to allow the panel some room and if the bearing is not required then that it produces a parallel tongue on from movement, if it were to expand. a wider raise can be produced when the edge of the field where it enters We must always try to anticipate what used in conjunction with a fence. And the groove. Panels should always be the panel and frame might do over needless to say the equivalent Trend finished with a flat edge rather than the next 200 years! I don’t remove – which has a fixed bearing – is a a tapering section, where they enter anything off the bottom of the panel more costly option. the frame’s groove. The reason for as it would allow it to drop into the This panel can be made on the this is that if the panel were to shrink groove with gravity, and instantly lose spindle moulder with a ring fence but across its width, the tongue will all the 45º matched corners. does require a lot of setting up – so remain held within the groove. If the Of course, fielded panels can be really needs a production run to justify field is tapered right to its edge, then handmade with shoulder and rebated the set up time – and is difficult to if it shrinks, it will become loose in the planes, as they were 400 years ago achieve safely. groove and if it expands it will split the and hopefully will still be made by Here I have mounted the 64mm groove, pushing the face off the rail. some, 400 years hence. diameter cutter in my router for I always make my panels the The examples produced in this demonstration purposes, but would required full width and height, to fit article can be seen at Peter’s open recommend you use it in a router snuggly in the depth of the groove day. For full details visit: www. table if you have one, as balancing the on all four sides, whilst forming the peterseftonfurnitureschool.com. F&C

A shop-made ring fence was used to form the groove in the top rail, as a suitably sized Careful sanding and cleaning up is required in order not to lose the definition of the bearing was not available for the router mouldings and keep the fields at 45° in the corners of the panels

46 F&C194 www.woodworkersinstitute.com