How to get Dining Table to flatten to metal base? - warped walnut

[roscoewoodworker]

I have come in late and others have already said what I would say. I'd just reinforce that screwing down the slab to the legs will twist the legs to conform to the shape of the wood; not the wood to the legs. The slab is too massive to bend to fit the shape of the legs.

Routing a flat slot in the bottom will solve the problem of mounting the legs flat across the table. However it won't make the top flat. If this is a dining table, I think you'll notice even a small amount of twist on the top.

The best bet is to flatten at least the top and possibly rout the flat slot in the bottom for the legs. The result will be much better than if you don't flatten at least the top. It appears that you have enough slab thickness to flatten the top. If you don't have the tools to easily do this, maybe a local millwork shop has the equipment to do it.

I am wrestling with a much thinner slab that is a beautiful piece of wood but has just enough twist in it to cause a problem. I don't have enough thickness left to flatten the top completely so I am probably going to make a shorter table because the twist will definitely be noticeable once done and there is no easy way to force thicker wood to straighten out to conform to the base.