Top is assembled, just need to plane it out flat and size it. I’ve got an old wooden try plane I’m working on that I’ll use when I get that finished. I was going to use my #8 jointer to flatten it but the try plane is longer and wider and this will be an ideal test for it.

Top looks great Zack. Doesn't appear it will need a lot of work to flatten either.

Thanks, yeah top is pretty flat, bottom side will need the most work since all of the strips came out at different thickness.

Wish I had the skill to plane a surface like that! This is going to be a great desk.

If you're really worried about flattening the whole surface with a hand plane then build a flattening jig and use a router to level the surface.

So it begins, flattening the top.

Traversed the surface with the big try plane. It covers well with it’s weight and momentum. Really cuts nice, it made short work of this side. Made a longer 48” set of winding sticks.

Took about half an hour and it’s ready for a smoothing plane.

46 minutes ago, Zack said:

Took about half an hour and it’s ready for a smoothing plane.

Wow!! Very impressive. Looks amazing so far.

Nothing like hand planing! Nice job!!

Looks like that refurbished bad boy knew how to handle a task of this magnitude. Quite the pile of shavings it made. Are you thinking about getting a hamster or perhaps a gerbil?😆

They make great fire starter. I save them in big trash bags and give them away to guys at work with wood stoves and fire pits.

The underside of the top will be more labor intensive. The strips all came out at varying thickness according to how much they warped/bowed when they were ripped out and and then trued. I set a marking gauge at 1-3/8. There’s one or two that will still be too low but I’ll put filler strips in those. I ran a chamfer down to the line along the long edges and will get to work with my heavy cut jack traversing across the grain.I started out on a set of sawhorses but that was an exercise in kicking my own a** as I chased it across the shop floor. Moved it over to my bench which isn’t ideal for this work, but it will have to do. It’s a little too high and it’s attached to the wall so I can only work from one side. I have to keep rotating the top every couple of cycles across and due to the height I have to consciously keep my shoulder pulled down and my elbow in to keep my shoulder from popping.

Cool slo mo video of the chips flying.

That's neat Zack! So... your last name is Johnston? Mine is Johnson. Lol.

Very cool Zack. Not only seeing the chips flying but the sound is just as awesome. Quite the workout as well I'd say.

You know thats right. Makes you look forward to brushing the chips away.

This is the underside after rough flattening.

The top side developed a slight bow, convex along the length after working the underside. Took care of that with just a couple passes to get it flat again.

Flipped it back over and finished flattening and smoothing the underside. Just have two small low spots where the ends of that stave were too thin. I’ll cut those areas and insert filler pieces.

Lot of work Zack but well worth it. It's turning out nice.

Those 2 low spots have been addressed.

Next step is cutting the top to size length and width.

That should be a great looking top, impressive work.