The carcase of ugly poplar is much improved by the frame and panel in the back. I wonder if that's always true of case work.

I think I'm getting better with the tenoning jig on the table saw. My bridle joints came out far better than they did for the mortise and tenon exercise. (And all of them were way better than the ones I made for my Massive Coaster side tables.) Being able to register off of the frame members and cuts on them to set blade height and stops at various stages of the process was a lot easier (and accurate) for me than taking measurements. Also, Jim's advice to cut the slot for the shorter frame member first (in case we cut the wrong end of the pieces) turned out to be invaluable. I did just that (on a test piece). Minor shoulder plane work to get the fit, so I was quite pleased.

The poplar continues to be evil. All of the quarter-inch poplar on hand for panels was horribly bowed. It made routing the rabbet for the tongue-and-groove joint with the frames tricky. In the end, I got it to fit, with Jim's advice on using a sanding block and planing the flat side down a bit.

I still have to relieve a bit of the width to account for wood movement, but I'm more on track today than I was yesterday. And the poplar in the frame-and-panel part of the cabinet isn't so hideous. That's always encouraging.

jess ouyang

day 13