Hey, #woodworkers of Mastodon. Little help?

My next #DIY project is a bit daunting, a bit beyond my experience in wood shop.

I inherited a friend's ottoman after she moved overseas. The padded lid started sagging, so I pulled out some staples and looked beneath.

It's made of MDF (ETA: or chipboard?), which must've gone *crunch* when something too heavy weighed on it (could have been my kid, could have been the kids at the neighbours who were holding it for my friend after she moved).

Anyway+

Any #woodworkers out there, especially British ones who know what I mean when i say "I have a *small* garage workshop"...

Anyone got recommendations on cheap but functional electric thicknessers and planers for stock preparation?

I am tired of flattening, squaring, and thicknessing by hand with a 100+yr old hand-plane. But I don't have much space, and I don't do enough woodwork to warrant spending very much.

More a question of if there's anything worth bothering with given those constraints?

#Rowan aka #MountainAsh #tree #berries. Some birds feed on them. We have a tree that's been in our backyard since before our family bought our property in the early 90s.

There's also a big one growing at Welland Community Orchard too - they planted it there to boost pollination for one hybrid grafted fruit tree - one of the grafts are in the rowan family.

I harvest their berries to use for #PlantBased #NaturalDye making. They have high tannins in them.

#Woodworkers like the dense wood of rowan trees for carving/turning & making tool handles & walking canes.

#Saanich #Nature #BerriesIdentification #VancouverIsland #PacificNorthwest

This just showed up on my #icehockey team chat:
https://mortonarb.org/explore/activities/events/wood-slab-sale/

For the #woodworking #woodworkers out there. Near #chicago. Go get dinner wood and build something awesome. Post a picture here.