Fitting the top and bottom.

Progress on the gun case is going well!  Much of it now is the quiet handwork that is really enjoyable to me.  The way the case will be built is to assemble it as a closed box and then cut the top and bottom section apart.  Because of its size (approximately 11" x 25") the top and bottom pieces have to float and have enough room for the inevitiable expansion and contraction of the wood.  That's something you always need to do when building with panel and frame construction.  Failure to do that will probably result in a cracked panel or case.  Sorry about the distortion of this picture but you can see the rabbet which was rough cut with a router bit and then fine tuned with my shoulder plane visible at the top of the bench.  Next was to cut a slight radius around the edge of the panel, this was accomplished with the block plane.  Finally, the board was finished off with a #4 Smooth Plane as the final step. There's always something special to me about the way shavings come off of a well sharpened plane, you can see them in the picture. Both pieces will be finished with Watco Danish Oil before the case is assembled, that's the best way to avoid having an unfinished edge as the panel contracts or expands.  Looking forward to assembling the case tomorrow.