planing/ finishing wood

[Ianab]

Just my .02. The benchtop will serve you well, and besides if your using your wood for furniture, anything over 12 inches is so unstable, that is a gamble to use anyway.

Depends on the timber. Some I agree with you, wide slabs are pretty unstable and difficult to even get dry in one piece.

But with many softwoods (cypress and redwood etc) and some hardwoods like walnut, they are stable enough to use for table and bar tops as a single slab. There is just something cool about a single board table top, a section right through a tree.

They may of course cup or twist a little as they dry, which is why you need something more than a sander the get them level again.

But I agree, a 12" planer is fine for normal woodworking, then use a router jig if you need to surface anything bigger. It not like you make several tables in a day, so spending an hour or so surfacing a top with a router isn't a big deal.

Cheers

Ian