I was thinking in a light cherry. I found a local lumber dealer, but it sounded like they sold
4"
6"
and 8" or greater random width
Can someone explain this "random width"? Also, some of the pieces (the top, for example) of the bench are greater than 8" - what would I do about that? Would I have to find a dealer that sells wider boards?
You are going to have to learn the art of edge gluing! Boards come in random widths because of what the sawyer can cut out of any given log. Also, wider boards tend to cup/twist more and are generally more unstable. So a top that is 16" wide will generally stay flat longer if made from four, four inch boards than two, eight inch pieces.
For your furniture, you would want to make a wide top from several boards and make sure their end grain goes in opposite directions before gluing (that's a little hard to explain but if you look around you'll find pictures - end grain 'cup' up on one board, down on the next).
Anyway, you might need some new equipment. You are going to have to make sure the board edges are true before glue-up. You can so this with a jointer, a router table or a good table saw with a good blade. To keep the boards aligned, many people use biscuits to join them (plate joining) and you might want to learn what a 'caul' is. Also, you will need some appropriate clamps. After gluing, generally a belt sander is used to smooth the new piece (unless you're lucky enough to have a planer that's wide enough).
Boards are commonly glued together, edge-to-edge to make wider boards or pannels. Make sure you have two good straight edges, apply wood glue to both surfaces, and clamp firmly to hold them tightly together while the glue dries.
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