An Elegant Jelly Cabinet - Construction Part 3 - Making the Back Panel

The back panel is going to be not-quite frame and panel construction.  It won't be quite a frame - only a pair of stiles.  These will be rebated to house the panel, which will be loose, and will slide in from the top.
In this way, the panel will be free to move with the seasons as the timber shrinks and expands.
The stiles need to be ready for when I make the carcass, as they will be attached to the sides.

I am going to use handplanes once again - a little Record 043 grooving plane, and my Stanley 289 skew rebate plane.

The little grooving plane will define the rebate.

Before that, I need to add an auxiliary fence so that it will register on the side of the timber - well along from the end.

This will assist in keeping the plane straight for the cut.

Here is the modified groover - ready for action:

I want the rebate to be 1/4 inch deep and 3/4 inch wide.

Cutting the groove first, establishes the boundaries of the cut for fashioning the rebate.  Once this is done, the remainder can be removed as waste.

I always start at the far end and work my way back to the near end - seems to work best with plough planes and little grooving planes.  These tight curlies are typical of this narrow cut - around 1/8 inch.

 Here is the finished groove - crisp and clean.  You can see why these planes are sought after for groove cutting for drawers,  and many other tasks in box making as well.

Once the rebate has been defined, the waste can be removed.  My trusty Stanley 289 fillister is a perfect choice for this, but any rebate (rabbet) plane will serve. Stanley 78's are the most commonly used in this situation.  The existing groove gives a constant check for the correct depth.

Here is the finished rebate.  Two stiles like this one will house the back panel, whose edges will be chamfered to fit the rebate.  These rebates won't be seen, but if they were I would give them a final smoothing with a shoulder plane with a nice tight mouth.
I'll cut this back panel after the carcass is assembled, to ensure a good fit.

More to come later.

Happy woodworking to all .........