Hi GISer3546 between yourself and sawdustfactory and ACP Ithink you more or less have it off to pat.
There are a few tricks that you can use that just make life a little bit easier.
Always have a pencil with you to scribble across the wood it will show you where your not planing,sight down the board with one eye it will show you any undulations in the board,keep the board just a bit longer than the stock you need,as you use the 5 or bigger fore planes cant them over so they are resting on the corner of the sole and the shoulder and you can use it as a straight edge to sight over the board,when you have finished the first side mark it face side then there is no mistake you know this is your reference side.
When you plane the edge if you have trouble keeping it square to the face don't hold the plane by the front knob,place your thumb on the plane in front of the knob and your index finger on the sole underneath and pinch the plane between them when using the plane the index finger slides against the face side of the stock pretty soon your fingers will tell you what is square but even so check often with a square, use a long straight edge to check the edge as you plane. When finished mark it face edge no mistakes.When marking a square line around the stock these are the only sides you lay the square against,get that right and I`ll guarantee when you mark around the stock the lines meet.
When you turn it over as said mark the thickness with a marking gauge, if you are to use a scrub plane take a block plane or a bench plane and shamfer the edge down to the scribed line so the scrub plane dose not break the wood out of the face edge as you use the scrub plane across the grain. put that all together and away you go.
Billy:thumbsup:
