planing large table top

I flattened all my tables with hand planes but I don’t see why it would be too wide for a router planing jig, just make wider rails.

-- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/

A 14” plane will do it, as well as a longer cross slide for the router. The router may sag a bit in the middle, but will rough it out, and the plane can finish it.

Might be too late for this one, but I did a similar thing. I took sections of 6 boards, glued and bolted together, ran them through my planer ( had to build an extension table front and back because of the weight) to get them to be the exact same thickness, then laid them on a perfectly flat service before gluing them together and running threaded rod through all of them. They were almost perfectly flat after that and required minimum sanding.

the problem with the wider rails is that they’ll have to be free standing from the floor, but it’s looking like that’s my only option. So I guess I’ll try that then hand-plane finish it.

dday- yeah, it’s a little late for that. Lesson learned though. That’s kind of how I planned to do my next one though so it’s good to know that works well.

-- Burn your fire for no witness

Belt sander

-- Google first, search forums second, ask questions later.

I take my large tabletops to a commercial shop in my area. They have an amazing 50” wide planer / drum sander. It hits the surface with a helical planer head, then two grits of sandpaper, all in a single pass.

Their labor rates are quite reasonable, and it saves me a lot of work.
And talk about flat. Wow, perfectly smooth and flat.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

I vote for the sander. You have grain changing directions all over the surface and that pine is rather soft and likely to splinter and tear. You have already planed the 4x laminates, should you should be rather close on the final glue-up. SAND it.

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."

Rip cut it at the glue line in a few spots, run it through your planer then glue it back up.

-- Dave - http://kelleycrafts.com/ - pen blanks - knife scales - turning tools

Use your hand plane across the grain and then along. A Jointer plane would do this job better but your 14” will do.
Especially that the wood you use is very soft. Be careful around the knots to avoid tearout.

Unless you want it to look rough, take it to
a shop with a wide belt. It shouldn’t cost
more than $40 or so and will save you hours
of work.

Unless you A. like the look of tearout in pine,
B. like the look of tearout patched with putty.

Well, it all depends …..

What’s it for? How flat does it have to be?

How rustic do you want it to look? (Looks pretty rustic to me ;-)

I’ve got the hand planes, but that’s WAY to big a job for me.

Router sled worked fine on this bench 35” wide you just need a stout sled that won’t flex:

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

Well, it all depends …..

What s it for? How flat does it have to be?

How rustic do you want it to look? (Looks pretty rustic to me ;-)

I ve got the hand planes, but that s WAY to big a job for me.

Router sled worked fine on this bench 35” wide you just need a stout sled that won t flex:

- rwe2156

Hmm, if you cut plowed across with the router sled about every 4-6 inches, you could probably finish the job quicker and with a lot less dust with the jackplane by connecting the furrows.

-- Curator, Museum of Unfinished Projects

Uhhh. I’m guessing the hand held belt sander was invinted after the depression. Doesn’t your policy preclude the use of such a tool?

Belt sander

- mike02130

ArtMann,

Bad guess.

The portable belt sander was invented in 1927—two years before the depression—by Porter Cable. http://ruudbaaijens.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/RuudBaaijens_EPD_SandingMachine-v2.pdf

I did not ask the question, I only answered it.

I may not need post depression tools, but I do use them.

-- Google first, search forums second, ask questions later.