: None of these methods are near as strong as a scarf that's awfully
: easy to do, hard to understand why the panels aren't just
: scarfed.

Thanks Bill,
I appreciate your thoughts and understand, but that isn't possible with the Pinguino kit since the wood is cut exactly to size and designed for a butt joint - scarfing would reduce the length and throw everything out. I would have probably enjoyed the scarfing but the splines offer an equal challenge I think and are a possible alternative to a taped butt joint.

Perhaps I will test a scarf joint in my experiments or maybe just wait for my next build! This is my first S&G but I enjoy woodwork, indeed I taught it for a while.