Slow and steady...

A couple hours here, half an hour there...and a week or so later, here we are, at the first dry-fit of the core of the case.

A "dry-fit" is basically an assembly with no glue. You use them to check the fit of parts, and to plan your actual glue-up (where seconds count). The dry-fit is where you find out whether your measure-to-cut ratio was high enough, and if your accuracy was on or off. So far, so good.

So far, there are about 25 biscuit joints in this thing. And they all lined up.

I expect to do a LOT of dry-fitting on this piece - it's going to have to be assembled in stages, and I will need to make sure that I plan the right step in the process to bolt in the 75-lb TV lift mechanism...which by the way has to be perfectly balanced and plumb...

It's actually coming faster than I'd expected - a little time after dinner here and there has really been productive. I find that when I'm not rushing and don't expect to make a huge milestone with each session in the shop, the accuracy goes up as I'm just trying to get each step just so rather than plow toward finishing. When the accuracy goes up, I spend less time fixing errors, scratching my head about how to proceed, and "re-working the design" unexpectedly.