I had been looking forward to this step ever since I bought the massive 2x12. Not because it hit me in the jaw as I was trying to wrestle it down from a high shelf, but because it was already a beautiful piece of timber to start.

This was the second piece I pulled out to assess at the big box store. Looking down it’s length, I couldn’t believe how straight and square it was. To make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, I compared a few more pieces but I had already found the winner. I got the 12’ length cut in half so it would fit in the car.

The piece was twist free, however it did have a slight bow/cup. Getting rid of this was something I was comfortable with and I went to work - right after putting a fresh edge on both plane irons.

The process wasn’t much different than preparing the benchtop:

• Start working on the crown; much easier to work with the cup facing down than having the board rock, if it was the other way around

• Take a few long passes with the jack plane to get a feel for the lumber and to take down the really high spots

• Switch to the smaller smoothing plane and plane at 45deg in one direction and then in the other. This creates a checkered pattern and makes it easy to ensure you have even coverage

• Spots that are too low won’t have this pattern and that’s a good sign to know you’ve still got more work to do

• Check for progress using a straight edge or the side of the plane

• Finally end with going end to end and when you get a full length shaving, it’s close to flat

I did validate that I didn’t have any twists using winding sticks before I labeled this task as completed.