I just finished making a large cherry top for a dining room table (44" X 86"). In the past, being fairly new and not having a vast array of tools at my disposal, I have used my belt sander to clean up table tops. I "float" the sander diagonally back and forth until the top looks clean then use an orbital sander and finally hand sanding the entire top to finish. This approach has worked but it does tend to leave highs and lows in places (not enough to see but you can feel them). So now I have a little money to spend and looking for some new tools and/or methods. Should I be looking at a "fore plane?" a "jointer plane?" or maybe just a #4 or #5 smoother? Or what other method(s) or tools would you use to flatten a table top this large?
Right now I have two planes: A Stanley low angle jack, and a Stanley #4 smooth.
I would really like an excuse to buy a new plane
Thanks