FRAME & PANEL

Dresser

Traditional techniques eliminate wood-movement concerns, reduce construction time and save money.

Nice looking dresser, huh? Looks complicated, right? Believe it or not, two router-table setups allow you to build the case quickly using less-expensive wood and plywood for the interior, making the assembly more stable.

You could build this dresser with solid-wood slab sides, but that's just going to cause problems with wood movement. Frame-and-panel construction uses loose panels that allow for wood expansion and contraction because of changes in relative humidity.

To make the frame-and-panel ends you use what's called a rail-and-stile router bit set that j oins the stiles (the long, vertical pieces) and the rails (the shorter, horizontal, intermediary pieces) in the frames and also cuts a groove to accept the panel.

To save time, I used the same rail-and-stile setup to make the horizontal and vertical frame-and-panel dividers for this piece.

Even better, because it's a drawer case, no one will see the interior so I was able to use flat plywood for the panels and poplar for many of the rails and stiles. I ended up saving money, weight and time. And I defy anyone to call this dresser anything less than fine furniture.

Frame and Panel is the Heart and Soul

The entire carcase of the dresser is essentially a bunch of frame-and-panel assemblies that are nailed together. It's sort of like taking leftover frame-and-panel doors and building furniture out of them.

The trick to frame-and-panel joinery is the cope-and-stick joint, which is created with a rail-and-stile router bit set. OK, that's a lot of words, but the process is actually quite simple and based on the easy-to-make tongue-and-groove joint. I've added a short piece detailing the bits that make this joint possi-

by Troy Sexton

Troy designs and builds custom furniture in Sunbury, Ohio, for his company, Sexton Classic American Furniture. He is a contributing editor to Popular Woodworking.

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Popular Woodworking February 2005