Building a cedar chest - solid wood, frame-and-panel

In this video we'll build a cedar chest for the sauna change room using both Eastern White Cedar and Aromatic Red Cedar. The chest is solid wood and features frame-and-panel and mortise-and-tenon joinery.
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[@jeremymcclanahan2389]

Thx for sharing

[@WorkshopatTheGardens]

Nice build… love the book matched panels!

[@SalemWoodworks]

Thanks! I sort of started out absent mindedly making what in my head was a utilitarian box. Was pleasantly surprised when a nice piece of furniture emerged at the other end of the process.

[@cathrynkaiser1772]

Beautiful chest.

[@ChristopherClaudioSkierka]

hi nice explanation but can I ask you something please? The panels- how much smaller are they to fit into the groves of rails or is it an exact fit no space? thanks in advance

[@SalemWoodworks]

Those panels are 1/4 inch thick, so I leave 1/4 overlap on all sides of the panel (so the panels are 1/2 inch larger in each dimension than the visible opening. I cut the 1/4 inch grooves in the rails and stiles 3/8 inch deep, leaving a 1/8 inch gap all the way around the panels. I then use 1/4 inch spaceballs (www.amazon.com/Space-Raised-Cabinet-Spacers-Groove/dp/B07YN6P95T/) around the panel. These compress during assembly and keep the panel from rattling and allow for seasonal movement. Truthfully, you only really need to do this on the sides of the panel since wood moves very little in the long direction, but I tend to do it on all sides just so I don't have to think about doing things differently for rails and stiles.