Prepare Rough Sawn Timber for Woodworking

This article will show how you can make rough sawed timber into squared, planned wood for woodworking.

Steps

Cut the individual pieces you need from the plank of wood. Make sure you cut them larger than the final size, to allow for loss from machining.It is Recommended to add {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} all around, but you can probably reduce this if you cut very straight lines and are able to joint the edges without removing too much wood.
Joint one face first, the flattest face first. Place the wood so that the cup is down.
Plane one end (let's call it the toe).
Joint the other end. Let's call that the heel. Continue on both toe and heel to achieve the most from the rough cupped wood.
You'll know when you're nearly done because you'll only see the last few remains of the rough sawed surface.
You know the surface is done when light reflects evenly from the surface.
Use the new flat jointed face to create a true 90 degree edge. Hold the wood up against the vertical guide and joint one edge.
The remaining rough face is planed parallel to the already planed face by putting it through a planer.
Cut the board to width on a table saw, with the jointed edge against the saw fence.

Put all pieces through each step before moving on to the next one. This will give consistent results.
When preparing numerous items for a project, prepare them at the same time.