The Big Glue-Up!

After talking to my brother, Brek, at our Christmas visit, I decided to shorten the six long rails. In theory, this would eliminate the gap between the second shelf and its slotted rail, as described in my previous post. Before doing so, I slapped the slot bit on my router and tried to clean up the long tongue. Apparently, my homemade router guide has become unreliable and warped because groves above/below the long tongue got cut too deep. Of course, I didn't discover this until after my final glue-up, when it was too late to fix it. Oh well. After all that work, I've got the damn grove back (gap between the second shelf and its slotted rail).

Okay, so time for the big glue-up. I hate this part. I stood staring at all the pieces, trying to figure out how I could pull it off by myself. Six rails with twelve mortises and the second shelf would all have to be inserted simultaneously. That would almost be possible, if it weren't for the glue. All these pieces must be put together before the glue dries. Impossible. At least for me. I called for help. Melissa assisted with glue spreading and inserting floating tenons. We put one side of the carcase on its side, so the long rails and second shelf could rest on one side vertically. After several panic attics, we got through it.