OK hand planning! I was think I was the only one that did that any more!Dimitri Guest said:
First if you have not done this sort of thing before I would not do it to the blanket chest until you have practiced for a while.
You also need long planes, do you have ones that at let's say 15" long? You might get by with at 12" but anything less I would not try.
By the way we are talking a flat chest and not a rounded top right?
Anyway first you will do sanding last if at all. You will want to remove any glue that came out of the joints by scraping it off the is step one.
Next you will want to find if the panel is warped or bowed (concave/convex).
Now before I get into this any farther are you still interested?
Ed