Panels for the doors

Here one of the doors is dry fit and clamped so I can check the fit and measure for the panels.

There is a lot of friction with all those tenons. While each piece fits by hand nicely, when the whole thing is assembled it would be hard to pull apart by hand. A mallet would work but may damage the parts. To disassemble the doors I use a reversed clamp as below. This keeps from damaging the parts when there is a lot of friction. I checked the corner to corner diagonals and I am happy to say that both doors clamped up perfectly square!

I then put a combo blade on the table saw. The Powermatic PM2000 table saw has some nice features like a shaft lock for changing blades.

I do use the blade guard when I can. I still have all my fingers despite a long career in construction and woodworking. I intend to keep them too. This saw makes using the guard easy with a lever to release the riving knife. The anti-kickback device and the blade guard have push buttons to release and attach them. The easier the saw is to use with this stuff, and the easier it is to use, the more it gets used.

Good in and outfeed tables help with milling the plywood.

I use a sled to cross cut the panels. Note the extension to the fence to allow for a stop block.

I then clamped a board to the table saw fence and set up the dado head to run a rabbet around the edge of the panels. I marked the height of the cut on the sacrificial board and marked the width of the rabbet on a test piece to help with set up.

I first set the fence by lining my mark on the test piece up with the edge of the cut in the homemade throat plate. I then turned the saw on and raised the blade until it reached my mark on the fence.

This got me pretty close and with a few test cuts and final adjustments I was ready to go. I check the test piece in the groove at several locations. It looks good to me!

 I used a feather board to keep the plywood down tight at the blade.

Now to test fit the panels. Hot diggetty, it's starting to look like a door.

Now I will check every part for fit and make sure all is ready to assemble. Next time glue up, on the "It Starts With A Tree" blog.