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Today we'll begin by cutting the panel grooves in the rails and stiles. We'll do this with a 3/8" straight bit in the router table.
 The ends of the cabinet will frame 3/8 inch thick solid wood panels. Here we see that the grooves into which these panels will fit line up very nicely indeed; no trimming needed. That is a good thing indeed, for if I had to trim away part of the inside edges to bring the grooves flush, the grooves would be too wide in that place. That can mean unsightly gaps and possible rattling of the panel, both of which we want to avoid.
Some folks will cut their panels small and shoot a dab of clear silicone caulk in the bottom of the grooves at the corners, others use tiny rubber balls as spacers. In some applications, these work well, but in this case the end panels will contribute greatly to the rigidity of the cabinet. They have to because the thinner rails and stiles are not stiff enough on their own. I must leave some allowance in the vertical grooves so the panels can expand without popping the joints, but the upper and lower edges (the end-grain edges) will fit quite snugly against the bottoms of their grooves to add resistance to 'racking' when leaned on.
 A piece like this has some pretty interesting looking joints when you take them apart. It's almost a shame that no one will ever see any of this once it's put together. Trimming the groove ends square and fussing over the fit take extra time, but make for a more precise fit.
 In many cases, the false-front drawers would be mounted over their holes and that would be that, but as with the end panels, I felt it important to take the opportunity to strengthen the carcass with carefully fitted plywood panels behind the drawer fronts. Plywood is used here because it does not expand and can be cut for a snug fit all around. Leaving no play at all makes them all the more effective as stiffeners.
 With the plywood panels cut and trimmed to precise fit, the final dry fit looks good. Now it's time to make the solid oak panels to go in the end caps.
 I start by laying out the cross cuts in the board I've selected. I chose this one because the grain runs vertically from face to face, meaning that there will be almost no chance of the wood trying to warp with time. This also yields a distinctive quarter-sawn pattern that is a wonder to behold. I lay out the board so we cut around any knots or defective areas that will cause problems.
 Because we don't want obvious joints in the panel, I lay out the wood so that after re-sawing, I can put the pieces back together in such a manner that the grain matches so well you won't see the seam. This is done by un-winding the board: piece 4 will rotate up next to piece 1, piece 3 rotates up next to piece 2, and 1 and 2 will get put back together where they were.
 Rough sawn lumber is... well, rough, making it difficult to see just what the wood looks like under the surface. The edges are often not straight either, so we start the process by edging the billets -- that is to take just enough off the edges to give us a clean, straight surface. This is not a glue joint yet, just cleaning things up a bit.
 Now that we have straight edges to run along the fence, we can accurately rip the boards down the middle. The boards were marked up in such a way that I will have no trouble knowing which halves go with which. Remember that we must grain-match the panel boards when we're finished milling them.
 Now it's time to set up for re-sawing the narrower boards. The best way to do this is with a band saw. The blade I use for re-sawing is 3/4" wide and has large, wickedly sharp teeth. the bands are stored coiled up to be compact, but uncoiling this band is like wrestling with a shark -- wear leather gloves!
 Once the band is installed on the saw we have to tune it: set the blade guide bearings, blade tension and tracking, and so on. then we lubricate the blade with a little Pam non-stick cooking spray on a rag.  Spin the upper wheel backwards by hand for three full revolutions to spread the lubricant and we're ready to get started.
  Using a marking gauge, I scribe the centerline of the boards. I actually set the gauge just shy of the actual center then mark each board twice: once from each face. This gives me a 1/16th inch wide track down the center of the board which is easier for me to follow. Then I carefully saw along that track to cut each board into two thinner boards. The tubular attachment on the saw fence allows me to steer the cut and compensate for blade drift, yet keep the board perfectly vertical.
 After all the panel boards are sawn in two, they make a few passes through the surface planer to smooth out both faces and make them parallel to one another.
 Then, using the numbering on the end of each piece, I lay them out on the table, in order and check to be sure the panel is going to look good. When it's right, I make a big "v" across the panel to make it easier to keep them oriented to one another.
 Next we install a high quality, fine tooth blade on the table saw and make certain the blade is at exactly 90°. Then run each panel section through, taking off only a few thousandths of an inch until all joints are snug and square.
 Now we carefully apply glue -- just the right amount, and evenly distributed to both faces of each joint -- line the boards up neatly and apply clamps. The spring clamps hold the ends of the boards level at each joint, the bar clamps pull all the pieces together. Don't apply too much pressure or you'll squeeze all the glue out of the joint and it will fail.
After the first pair of panels have been in the clamps long enough for the glue to tack, we remove the clamps and set the panels aside so we can glue up another pair. This continues until all panels are done. Then, we allow the panels to cure overnight before working with them.
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