Hi, first post here. I am pretty new to woodworking, just started getting into it in the last couple years but not really doing any projects worth mentioning until recently when I built a king sized storage bed and simple headboard and a couple rustic night stands. They all came together pretty well and I am pleased with how they turned out considering my level of woodworking understanding.
I decided to tackle a dining room table next, we have been wanting one for years and have been putting it off until our daughter is a bit older. I finally went out snooped around in the lumber yard and decided I was going to get hickory or spalted maple if they had any. We really like the look of a wood with a lot variations and my wife doesnt like the grain of oak for a big table top. Anyway, I went and picked up 6 boards today that were planed down to 1.75" and 6" wide and about 8' long. The top dimensions will be about 35" wide x 6' long. Now I have never received wood from a lumber yard always lowes. So a few things I noticed were some knots that had some voids in there. And these boards look like they have a spalted texture as well you can see the black lines and some smaller holes from what i can assume are the insects that create that. I am ok with this bc it goes with the rustic look I am going for. Now I was assuming I would get the wood and be able to basically lightly prep the wood and glue them up and be good to go. Now that I have them at my house I see the even though they look straight I will likely need to joint them with my table saw and a straight edge then run them through my porter cable planer. A couple boards also have a bit of a bow in them. I konw you can use the planer like a jointer but is it that necessary with just a bow? Is there any way to take that out without removing material? Also if i did need how do I find a straight board to lay it on top of? Just eye ball the best one at lowes?
So My game plan so far this week is going to be to fix the voids first bc i read that should be done before you prep the boards, then I need to fix the joints so I can prep them for glueing and also fix the bowing. Just not sure how to go about some of it. If it makes any difference the guy there said to just bring it back after i get it glued up and if its 35 or less inches he will run the whole top through his planer for me. Any help would be appreciated I dont want to waste any wood60217368_10158481542028206_6391179728954327040_o.jpg