Central Column Glue-up

Before gluing up the column, I had to make sure that the sliding action was as smooth as possible.  With the narrow sides clamped in place, I traced the width of the post onto each side.

Using my bandsaw and jointer plane, I cut and planed the sides to exactly the needed width.

While testing the fit of the post, I aimed for a fit that was fairly snug, as I will later plane the post carefully to make a perfect fit.  To begin the glue-up of the column, I begin with gluing one piece on, and wiping away all the glue squeeze-out with a wet rag.

After that was dry, I glued the other side on, using the post as reference, making sure to wipe away any glue squeeze out.

After that was dry I glued on the last piece, making sure to use glue sparingly, as any squeeze out would be essentially impossible to remove.

After all the glue was set, I planed the outside.  Not all the joints turned out perfect, but they are passable, after all I knew that this would be the hardest part of the project.  Now onto the base.