Originally Posted by
Jamie Buxton
The traditional approach (that is, pre spaceballs) is to make the panel very close to zero-clearance in the long-grain direction -- that is, the direction where there will be no expansion. In the cross-grain direction, you do make the panel with the necessary clearance. You assemble the door, center the panel, and put a small nail through the door frame into the panel in the middle. Or you can use a wood peg. The result is a panel that's centered in the door, and still can expand and contract across grain.