Lowes didn't carry jack planes, so I grabbed a Stanley hand saw. I drew the flat face cuts on the board, then drew a secondary line 1/4" in to make the cut more forgiving, figuring I would just plane it down.

Slow, slow work. Going to try to find a place to do the other three with a table saw or something, because it's going to take forever this way.

Also found out the jigsaw I had access to for the second cuts is too short for the 1.5" thickness of the 2 x 4, so I'll have to use the saber saw or find something else.

On the upside, I figured there was a better than average chance I'd wreck the wood somehow, and that didn't happen. And got lots of practice using a 6" block plane.

: I'm pretty new to wordworking tools. I've got a 7" block
: plane, a surform, palm sander, and access to circular and
: jigsaws. I don't mind buying more at all, but I'd prefer to keep
: costs relatively low unless it's multi-fuction. E.g., a power
: planer is something I'd pretty much never use apart from making
: paddles, and I probably won't make a lot of those.

: No garage or basement, so I don't plan to get a table saw or other
: large tools.

: Given those constraints, a jack plane or hand saw seem like the
: best options.