Little pins stabilize floating panels
Dowels in drilled holes can secure the panel in a frame-and-panel, while allowing for wood movement.
Woodworkers use a variety of methods to keep floating, solid-wood panels from shifting or rattling in their frames, whether in a door, bed frame, cabinet side, or wherever. This method is the easiest and most secure I’ve found. Working from the back of the assembly, I drill small holes through the top and bottom edges of the frame, continuing through the edges of the panel without poking through the front of the frame. Then I glue small dowels into the holes. The dowels only show on the backs of the frames, but I make them out of the same wood as the frame when possible, so they blend in. The small pins keep the panels from rattling, sagging downward, or shifting sideways, while allowing them to expand and contract sideways (across the grain).
—CHARLIE JAMES, Williston Park, N.Y.
Illustrations by Dan Thornton
From Fine Woodworking issue #305
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