Rail and Stile construction
(also called "Frame and Panel")
is a technique often used in the making of doors, windows, wainscoting, and other decorative features for cabinets, furniture, and homes. The basic idea is to capture a 'floating' panel within a sturdy frame; as opposed to techniques like slab drawer fronts which are simply single pieces of material with exposed end grains. Usually, the panel is not glued to the frame - it is left to 'float' within it so that seasonal movement of the wood comprising the panel does not distort the frame.

Rail and Stile construction at its most basic consists of five members: the panel and the four members which make up the frame. The vertical members of the frame are called stiles while the horizontal members are known as rails. A basic frame and panel item consists of a top rail, a bottom rail, two stiles, and a panel. This is a common method of constructing cabinet doors and these are often referred to as a five piece door.


In larger panels it is common to divide the panel into one or more sections. To house the extra panels, dividing pieces known as mid rails and mid stiles or muntins are added to the frame.
Muntin or Muntin bar is a strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window.Muntins are also called "glazing bars", "muntin bars", or "sash bars". Muntins can be found in doors, windows and furniture, typically in western styles of architecture. Muntins create a grid system used to divide small panes of glass, called "lights" or "lites", into a single window sash or casement.

A flat panel has its visible face flush with the front of the groove in the frame. This gives the panel an inset appearance. This style of panel is commonly made from man-made materials such as MDF or plywood but may also be made from solid wood or tongue and groove planks. Panels made from MDF will be painted to hide their appearance, but panels of hardwood-veneer plywood
will be stained and finished to match the solid wood rails
and stiles.

A raised panel has a profile cut into its edge so that the panel surface is flush with or raised of the frame. Some popular profiles are the ogee, chamfer, and cove. Panels may be raised by a number of methods - the most common in modern cabinetry is by the use of a panel raising cutter in a Router machine or a Shaper Cutter.

Here you will find several options to produce the most elegant Raised Panels on a shaper cutter.