While I'm still a novice at Sketchup, I fear I have gotten good enough
with it to design things that outstrip my woodworking skills (or my
available woodworking *time*. I've been committing ideas to "paper",
figuratively speaking; enough to take a year for me to translate into
actual wood-and-glue reality.

I'm curious if any of you do something like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguari...57639547178715

.... when you're designing a piece, and if there's any simpler way other
than copying and pasting.

This would be an end table, which is still deep in the "musing" stage,
but I like the general idea. With my tool complement and skill set, I
see a couple of issues. The first is how to fasten the 1x2 "pickets" at
each end to the rails above and below. (together, they make a roman
numeral "III"). I don't have a Domino, and I question whether I would
live long enough to cut mortises and tenons for each one, something I've
never tried.

I'm thinking of using this BeadLock jig,

http://www.rockler.com/3-8-beadlock-basic-starter-kit

.... but not in the usual way. (the usual way being to drill 5 holes that
mate with their proprietary tenon stock). I would just drill two
adjacent holes and use dowels. Like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguari...7639547178715/

Assuming no one has any objections (ha), how would you glue something
like that? I only ask because it should not be under any stress at all.
Would you: Not use glue at all? Only put glue on the dowels? Or make
sure all the mating surfaces have glue?

Is there some other way to join these pieces that's not too "advanced"?
I plan to use pocket screws for some of the other joints, but these
would show.

That brings me to the next issue. Each "leg" would consist of a 1x3 and
a 1x2 joined at a right angle, probably with a slight shadow line. I
assume biscuits would do the trick here, and a biscuit joiner is not out
of the question, but I'm wondering what other options there might be.

I will remind you that I don't have a table saw, and that my skills are,
um, "developing".

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