Sgian Dubh
David, the base detail of the pedestal, assuming that's what you're talking about, is there primarily to provide two points of contact (that and the bead somewhat further along) on the same plane to register the piece either on machines, or for hand held power tools to register on them through spanning baseboards, e.g., a cross-cutting jig that carried the router as it excavated the fairly deep and smallish diameter cross grain flute.

I don't have any employees, and it's only my physical effort involved. I'm pretty nifty with planes, but in this case, a little preliminary planing of the table top to level off with power sanding to finish will be quicker. The end result will be smooth but with perhaps more undulations than might be achieved with planes. I wouldn't do it the way I plan if I thought or knew it was slower. My construction strategies are generally (but I admit not always) driven by turning jobs around as fast as I can. Slainte.