White oak can be hard to work especially in 8/4. It's heavy, man.

I cut the roughouts and shaped them first then ran them through the planer to 6/4. It seemed the easiest way to do it with less surface to plane. Rounded over the part that connects with one's head with my 3/4" roundover in the 'big' router table. The big router table is the one that's hardest to lift up onto the saw horses platform as opposed to the small one that is easy to lift. It's all relative...

All the time planing the oak means watching the grain tear outs to make them smooth at the end. My little planer ain't what I used in the wood production days. In the end, the knees will be stained a darker color so as not to be too much of a visual distraction in the small cabin.