All the non-dowel pieces cut to size.

Just a little off the top!  Shaping the top of the sides.

Handle hole...that sounds wrong....

Dry fit, gotta make sure it looks right before a glue up.

Clamps!  Glued up and set to dry.

Used the same size forstner bit as the dowel, but guess what, hole was a hair big.  No worries, shims to the rescue!  Turned this bug into a damn feature!

At this point I realized it might be a good idea to make sure that I didn't make a whoops on measuring and try some product in this baby.  Look at that I measured right.

Pro tip...when trying out dowel joinery the first time, using soft woods is not good practice.  Horrendous tear out on soft woods.  Try it on a piece of scrap from the hardwood being used for true results.  No tear out.

All 24 dowels in, trust me on the other side.

It was a gorgeous day out, so I ruined it by doing the most tedious thing I could think of, sanding.  Even did the edging by sanding, what can I say, I am a glutton for punishment.

Slap on some Danish Oil and attach the bottle opener, the only metal fasteners used on the whole project.

You can't give one of these empty, filler up with some fancy beers.