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I have an idea about how to do the scarfs for the side panels and so on. Maybe this is a new idea, or maybe it's the way it's done already, I don't know. Anyway, the idea is to cut two rectangular "blanks" slightly larger than the combined panel halves in the plans. After the two blanks are scarfed together, then the panel halves are traced onto the two connected blanks. That way, there are no worries about the scarfs not coming together exactly right as to length and alignment. Does this sound feasible, or am I just describing what is already in the manual? Up to now I have only built from kits--this will be my first from "scratch."

It seems a bit wasteful. Just mark them out carefully, stack them and cut them all at once. I used a jig and a machine plainer to cut them. Too easy. Then lay the plans over the length and mark up the final size.

Thanks Dave, that helps a lot. Any recommendations on a good machine planer?

I have a Makita now but have had a bosch and ryobi. The makita unit has been good to me.

Diving, you're probably long past this point, but you've described page 16 of the manual. Your margin of error is still very small but it's still easier to manage than 4x8 scarfing.