I've started on a workbench and I've decided to use ~3" thick pine boards for the top. The boards have been thicknessed but I don't have access to a jointer so I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to joint the edges. I've got an ECE wooden jointing plane and a #5 with a cambered blade but I feel like I'm going in circles trying to get things square and flat. I'm aware that match planing will eliminate the squareness variable but I still need to get a relatively wide surface flattened and untwisted. What tips have you fellas got for getting jointing wide edges without a machine?
I'm not going to use clamps for gluing the top together because I realized I'd need to spend hundreds of dollars on long clamps that I won't use very again. Instead I've bought a box of these massive 8" screws and two auger bits. I plan to glue and screw the boards together one at a time. With a ratchet or rattle gun I should be able to get enough clamping force. After that I will flatten the top one way or another. Any reason why I shouldn't use the screws (other than the fact that it's untraditional)?