On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:09:32 -0400, Harry Everhart
wrote:



The top is about one inch thick of solid wood. Around the edges there
are three inches of thickness of the same boards.

I had a not dissimilar problem, but with a solid oak table. I am a
lazy man, this was not an heirloom, just a solid piece of furniture
that had lasted my family more than 30 years - it already had
"character", but there is a difference between distressed and messed
up.

I took a belt sander to it (flames expected). 320 grit belt, and a jig
that allowed only 1/32 of cut, especially at the edges! The jig took 2
hours to figure out, 2 more hours of experimentation to make it work.
The table took 15 minutes to get to bare wood with no scratches!
Worked it in individual passes, one end to the other, then did the
next sweep adjacent to the previous.

The the usual orbital sanding to smooth it out and Murdoch's table top
gloss finish - 5 coats, sanded with 600 grit between, then a buff with
0000 steel wool.

Is the table perfectly flat? Hah, not close. Does it show a divot or
two if you lay a machinists straight edge on it and shine a light
parallel to it - yep. Does my family notice - nope.

Regards.

Tom