On Sun, 31 Aug 2014 10:41:41 -0700, MJ wrote:

I thought I was wise and refinished separately, the legs and panels.
However, I failed to leave alone the part of the panel that fits into
the groove. I used polyurethane.

I've *never* done anything that stupid! Yeah, right :-).

Last time I did it I used a hand scraper to remove the finish along the
edges. Just don't use a great big burr and go slow and careful.