I debated posting this for a while, but then decided what the heck. . .gotta break the ice somehow.
Anyway, down to brass tacks. . .
I'm trying to build a workbench out of hickory. Much like my father (Dale Cruea), I don't like to do easy things first.
So I've got the tressel/sled feet made, they're nice and square. I was working on the stretchers, trying to get those straightened and flat. I finally realized that one of the stretchers had a nasty twist to it, so I got out the twist sticks, figured out how bad it was (I could actually feel my #7 plane rock from side to side over the length of the 48" board) and I ended up fixing that.
However, I failed (somehow) to notice the ungodly bow it had. To make a long story short, the middle of this board bows up about 1/4". When I try to plane it out, it doesn't seem to work, and being a fairly new guy at this, I figured I'd ask some folks who have been around the proverbial wood block.
So. . .any ideas? Should I just toss the board to the side and make a new stretcher, or is my warped, twisted stretcher able to be saved?
TIA