Hi Corr,
On the board glue ups when you get there as has been said flat faces and square edges makes the glueup go so much better.
I use a small knife edge square and I check the whole length of board and I get up close
with the light behind the square to see any gaps, hold the board up to the light ( I will rest a board on my shoulder and dance around the workshop looking for the light) alternatively setup a light at bench level, no light and the edge is square but usually what you will see is a wedge shaped sliver of light, what you then need to do is take a pencil and mark on the no light side of the board edge and do this is increments down the length of board, 6 to 12" or such, then take a no5 with a convex shaped blade and use the convexivity (is this a word?) of the blade to shave off the side with the pencil mark, (the high side if you like) this is done by moving the plane sideways so the center of the blade is taking off the high side with out to nothing taken off the low side, the high side can swap to either side of the board just to make it interesting
the amount of convex in the blade determines how much is taken off in a pass, the convex in the blade is usually achieved at the stone sharpening stage by pressing on one side then the other egde of the blade, use a square on the blade to check this as you go, with a 2" wide blade something like a 5ish thou gap, I just go by eye, I lean towards less is better than more here, I set the blade up in the plane so I take nothing off a test block at both edges and a shaving in the center.
As I am checking for square I also will be looking to plane more from the center of the length of the board to give me a concave length( a sprung board) at this stage I alternate between two no5's (one with convex one with straight) I test the sprunginess with a 1m long steel rule held on edge on the edge of the board, I either look for the gap or give the rule a wobble and if I see anything other than the whole length of rule wobble (contact at the ends only) I know there is a high point at the point where the rule is pivoting and needs more planing, I usually divide the length of board into three (bye eye) and take a pass in the center third then the 2/3rd's length then the whole length, using the no5 limits the amount of curve so I can't overdo it with too much of a gap, when the board is right I should be able to hold the rule at any position down the length of board and wobble it and see the whole length of rule wobble. Lastly I take the no5 with a straight blade to make a couple of passes just to ensure there's no convex (from the convex blade) in the edge of the board and then check it all again.
I would glue up in stages rather than the 5 boards in one go especially as a first go, I'd do two boards then three then the last join (all five boards) I think you said 200 wide? and definately do a dry run to test the setup and clamping also you want too see the gap close up as you tighten the clamps and hopefully dissappear
for the glueup and dry run I setup a flat level pair of saw horses with dressed straight timber, this all helps in maintaning alignment and I can see if things are going wrong
Heres a few pics of a brushbox table I did a while back (apologies if you all have seen before) note with the glueup the constant glue squeeze out along the length with only clamping in the center, boards are 1900 long 300 wide
planing edge.JPGgluing top boards together.JPGSue A brushbox dining table1.jpg
Hope this is helpful
Pete
