Building a project with wood. Plan review requested

[Freija]

Well, my redneck building project is slowly morphing into something a bit more posh, at least in my visions!

I've made some test cuts and a test dowel butt joint on two 12" pieces of 2 x 4 and made a few discoveries - it looks like crap but my fancy dowel jig works really well.

Off the shelf the lumber has rounded corners. On the outside upright legs where it would be most noticeable and crude looking, this creates an ugly seam where the 2x4's are joined to the 2x6s.



My first thought was to use a hand plane but that would be eight 86" long surfaces to plane perfectly without screwing up and I figured that was unlikely and too much labor.

My next thought was to run them through my table saw and buzz off 3/32nds or so which is doable on shorter pieces but one little boo boo or a slight warp in the board would either be uneven or cause an unsightly gouge so I scrapped that idea.

Then I went looking for an electric hand planer. They would probably do the job well enough if I was careful but they have their drawbacks and limitations, I've never used one and they cost around $100 and up.

So with unexpected cash on hand, I decided to hell with my budget for this project. I was already over anyway after buying screws and sanding disks and misc junk and you only live once right and I ain't getting any younger!

I knew what I needed was a jointer but they're usually really expensive, like up to multiple thousands of dollars for professional grade equipment so I decided to see what consumer/entry-level stuff was available from the big box home improvement stores.

I found one almost too good to be true then turned to YouTube for reviews. Surprisingly, with the exception of one small niggle, they were all positive saying this was a good and highly recommended value for the money and exceeded all expectations for budget ranged gear.

So I pulled the trigger. Free overnight delivery from Home Depot - $275.13 Total with tax. Yay! It will even do the face side of a 2x6 which will save sanding.





I spent most of the afternoon putting it together and dealing with the one small issue noted on YouTube, namely getting the fence square to the table but most of the time was spent figuring out where I'm going to put it. I'll be doing long boards so need some kind of in and out feed support at the same height as the table surface but as the sun was going down and I was putting things away, I had an epiphany and figured it out.

I'm also going to buy a roundover bit for cheapo my palm router to use on several edges for a more finished and less barnyard look.

Having something I'm excited about and motivated to do has been good for the head!

<eta>
I snagged one of the several unused shop vacs around here and now have official dust collection!