Take two… as I previously mentioned, the rails I milled twisted like a curly fries. Time to try another method, so for each rail, I laminated three pieces of 3/4″ pine and let them dry all week. Today, I surface planed all four sides for a total thickness of 2″.
Next step was to cut them to length, and I did that at the radial arm saw.
With the lengths set, it was time to create the tenons. To do this I used the stacked dado cutter. Since the ZCI was already cut with the 3/4″ dado, I elected to make the 5/8″ tenon utilizing a sacrificial fence. The fence is just a piece of 3/4″ birch plywood bolted to the fence using carriage bolts.
I used blue painter’s tape on the ends of the stock to eliminate tear-out, and it work really well.
Now to start cutting tenons! Using the miter gauge, I ran the piece along the fence slowly to remove material, I did it all in one pass. I had to remove some of the tenon to fit in the mortice, and used a file to round it off a bit. Time for a test fit, and with some more tweaking with the wood file, it fit like a glove.
Slow progress, but progress none-the-less. I really need to get this done before it starts getting cold.