Frame and panel Wainscot

[jteneyck]

I'm making some wainscot for a small bathroom. I thought I'd show you the basic process I used.

Here is one of the frames ready to assemble.



And here is a shot showing the parts.



I used jack miters to fit the molded parts together. The advantage is you can use any profile you want w/o having to buy a set of cope and sticking cutters; the disadvantage is it takes longer.





I made the 45° cuts with my RAS and removed the material in between with a dado blade on the TS.

On the back side I cut 1/2" x 1/2" rabbets for the 1/2" glued in plywood panels.



To make the joinery work I had to glue in small pieces to fill the gap between the end of the rails and muntins and mullions where they join the frame and each other. This is a little tedious but easier to me than routing out the rabbets and then having to chisel the corners square. Also, cutting the rabbets on the TS with a dado blade is fast and dust free, unlike using a router. Whatever works for you is how you should do it.



Because the plywood panels are glued in I decided that pocket screws would be sufficient to join the frames together. If I were to make solid wood, floating panels, I would have used loose tenons to join everything together.

The four frames I need are all together. Now I just have to cut the plywood to size and glue it in.

FYI, these will be painted so I was able to use some maple I was likely never going to use for a clear finish.

John

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

Those look great John. I'll be doing a fair amount of wainscot in my own home in the next year. Is this your design or did you find it elsewhere?

[jteneyck]

Thanks. My design. I'll make the vanity you see, too, in the same style and color.



John

[MidwestMan]

Looks real good.

[WaterlooMarc]

Looks good! Around here all the new construction "frame and panel" panelling is just MDF frames built up on top of the drywall and painted out. All with just square edges, not even eased. There's a ton of it in my subdivision. These people love it, along with their "farm tables" made from wonky 2x6's and poor stain jobs.

[jteneyck]

I actually thought about a similar approach on this job, but quickly dismissed it because the walls aren't truly flat and in some places there will be holes where the plumbing is getting moved from/to. I also considered installing everything one piece at a time, on site, as I've seen done on TOH, but eventually decided it was better to do as much as I could in my shop; less time stress, access to all my tools, I'll be able to spray prime the finished panels, etc. Each application is different and no one answer is likely correct in every case.

John