Hi guys. Let me first admit I'm not a very good wood worker. Or at least I don't have a lot of experience. My experience is limited to making things I need or need fixed around the house. Re-trimming doors, making raised vegetable beds, small wooden gate, etc.
My next project venture is building a table for my XL big green egg. For those that don't know it's a ceramic grill/smoker. It weighs in at about 250 pounds so for the table I'd like to use 4×4's for the legs. I've been to all the local lumber supply places and the largest they have in most woods is 8/4. I think I lack the equipment to properly rip and then glue/plane those into a 4×4 piece of material. Because cedar 4×4's are pretty readily available I was thinking of trying a cedar table. But all the cedar 4×4's I can find are rough cut. I was thinking about buying an electric hand planer to smooth the surface to make the cedar more presentable in a table. Is it reasonable to think I can get a good working surface from a hand planer? Honestly I don't plan on using a planer enough in the future to justify buying a larger stationary planer. And I don't really have the space to store one either.
I'll probably buy some 1×6's or 2×6's for the table top and would probably use the planer on them as well. I'd like to be able to finish the cedar in some way - it may eventually grey over time but I'd like it to look good for a little while first. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
My next project venture is building a table for my XL big green egg. For those that don't know it's a ceramic grill/smoker. It weighs in at about 250 pounds so for the table I'd like to use 4×4's for the legs. I've been to all the local lumber supply places and the largest they have in most woods is 8/4. I think I lack the equipment to properly rip and then glue/plane those into a 4×4 piece of material. Because cedar 4×4's are pretty readily available I was thinking of trying a cedar table. But all the cedar 4×4's I can find are rough cut. I was thinking about buying an electric hand planer to smooth the surface to make the cedar more presentable in a table. Is it reasonable to think I can get a good working surface from a hand planer? Honestly I don't plan on using a planer enough in the future to justify buying a larger stationary planer. And I don't really have the space to store one either.
I'll probably buy some 1×6's or 2×6's for the table top and would probably use the planer on them as well. I'd like to be able to finish the cedar in some way - it may eventually grey over time but I'd like it to look good for a little while first. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.