So, after spending that whole day with the router, my slab of wood was now flat, but it was far from smooth, and a "lumpy" table top is not that great for using...
Actually the horazontal striations that were left by the router were, I thought, quite attractive, and I was tempted to preserve them by putting on some sort of very thick, self-leveling transparent coating on the table.... But I decided against it and proceded with the "smoothing" process.
Striations/ripples left by the routing
So, the process used for smoothing is good old fashioned sanding...
Thus, I spent several more hours using my 4" belt sander to remove the ripples.
I just stood there and moved the sander slowly and evenly over the surface of the table. Very coarse grit to start with, and then once all the ripples were nolonger visible, I changed to a medium grit and did it all again, and then changed to fine grit and did it all again, and then I changed to using my random-orbit sander with a very fine grit...
And after another 5 hours or so of work, the table top is now flat And smooth :)
So I routed the edges to a small radius and gave it all the "once over" with a hand sanding pad to get any last little rough spots...
Then I got some help to move the table inside where I can do any further work protected from the elements.
And then I disassembled my "flattening jig" with the router and put all the tools and planks of wood back in the garage.... And just in time too since the very next day, Vancouver weather announced the end of Summer with a couple of days of heavy rain!... and now its back to the regular dreary weather for fall.But, not to worry, cos the table top is now in-doors and safe from the elements.
Next job will be to put a surface finish on it.... Hmmm Not sure what that will be yet (varnish, oil, epoxy???)Legs will come somewhat later :)
