Chest lid continued

I was able to make the central panel work by instead slightly reducing the two short end pieces of the frame, by about 1/4".  This entailed a good bit of work on the ends, which recieve the male aspects of the tongue and groove frame joinery, but less work than cutting out and planing and grooving a whole new central panel.  The lid still fits the chest just fine.

I pegged the joints but left everything un-glued for maximum mobility with humidity changes.  That is, after all, the whole purpose of going to the trouble of making this top anyway.

Planed smooth the oak pegs are nearly invisible - good looking joint.  I'm really pleased with the lid - and it's heavy.  Drop this on your hand and you're going to feel it.

I like the rough planed texture and much prefer it to a furniture quality planing job.  The 1/16" crack at the joint bugs me, but not enough to spend any more time tightening it up.  There are a lot of moving pieces at work there, and ground you gain on one end, it seems you lose on the other.