Cutting the Rail's

The Rail's consist of a 2 X 4 split down the middle. To make sure the rail's are both of equal height, set the rip fence to 1-3/4" and reduce it a very small increment (less than a 1/16") and make a practice cut on a 2 X 4 scrap, but only cut it until you can see the blade on the top surface. Next, back the sample board out and flip it top to bottom (not end for end) and see if the blade lines up to the cut. Keep making small adjustments until both sides are of equal width. The reason for this adjustment is to make up for the kerf (wood the blade turns into sawdust).

You will also notice in the pictures, that before the boards were split, they were numbered with arrows pointing in. This will keep the flat cut edges pointing in (toward the spline) during the dado cut and assembly, and also keeps the rails matching; not sure that it is important to keep the rails together, but it's just something I do...

NEVER GET YOUR FINGERS CLOSE TO A MOVING BLADE. TURN THE SAW OFF AND WAIT FOR THE BLADE TO STOP SPINNING!

NOTHING RUINS A DAY LIKE SEEING A FINGER SITTING ON A TABLESAW MINUS A HAND.