I saw a pic of a really cool looking free-standing cabinet the other day. The carcase was formed from four slabs that were mitered together at the corners. I'd like to do that, but I have no confidence that I'd be able to cross-cut boards that are, say, five feet long and two feet wide, with the kind of precision needed to get gapless miter joints all the way around a piece of that size. How would you do it?
What tool(s) would you use to cut the mitered edges?
Even a tiny amount of warping or cupping will leave a badly visible gap in this type of joint. How would you get the carcase sides to remain flat from the time you finished milling them until they were mitered and ready to be glued together? Or if you're willing to concede a little warp and cup, how would you deal with it when cutting the miters?
Would you glue all four sides together at once? Would you glue two sides together, then glue the third to the first two, then glue the final side? Or would you glue two sides together, then the two other sides, and then glue the two "L" shaped halves together?
Would you just assume that you're gonna get gaps no matter what, and focus your effort on trying to fill or disguise them after glue-up?
So far, I've made two small test pieces, but I wasn't satisfied with either. As you can see, I've been trying to think of ways to get good, tight joints all around, but there are a lot of possibilities, so I'm hoping some of you can save me from testing each and every one. Thanks in advance.