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Thread: Hollowing out log side table
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12th September 2017, 10:51 PM #1New Member
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Hollowing out log side table
My first post for a long time, so apologies if I am in the wrong place!
I have started making a small side table out of a solid piece of hardwood. It is from an old telegraph pole with a diameter of about 340mm. It is 400mm high and therefore quite heavy. I would like to hollow out the log (from the bottom) to reduce the weight. I am thinking of a hollow of about 230mm diameter and possibly 300 deep. I started by drilling 25mm holes using my pedestal drill around the circumference (only 80mm deep) and then using an Arbortech blade in my angle grinder to dig the rest out. I was able to get to the depth of the holes I drilled with the grinder handle still attached but after that, I wasn't really confident to just stick the grinder in and let it go.
One alternative is to use spade bits with an extension piece but that is still a lot of drilling by hand.
I have a chain saw but I am very wary of kickback problems when working in a confined hole like this.
Does anyone have any experience with this task?
Would a large diameter (50mm) Forstner bit on the end of an extension in my pedestal drill work?
Also after advice on filling a hole in the top face which had some rotted material. I ground out the rotten timber and mixed up some fibreglass resin and belt sander dust as a test and am waiting for it to set. It is about the size of two 50 cent pieces.
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13th September 2017, 02:02 AM #2
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13th September 2017, 11:49 AM #3GOLD MEMBER
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I carve deep dishes. I drill many holes with 1/2"(12mm) and 3/4" (18mm) Forstner bits then knock out the webbing between the holes.
A big Forstner will be hard to drive, both rotation and down. Use smaller bits like I did and chisel out the web.
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13th September 2017, 01:50 PM #4SENIOR MEMBER
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Could you do it like a band saw box - cut the top off, cut in half, hollow out, reglue?
The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
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25th September 2017, 09:45 AM #5New Member
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Thanks for the advice. I tried a 32mm speed bore bit which worked but was fairly hard going. I then used the Arbortech blade on the angle grinder with the handle off and was able to get most of the left over material out to a depth of about 200mm. Reduced the weight of the log by a few kilograms but probably not worth the extra time involved. With three furniture skids on the bottom, the side table glides around on our tile floor quite easily.
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25th September 2017, 09:47 AM #6New Member
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It is an option but I would prefer not to have any joins.
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25th September 2017, 12:11 PM #7.
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If you have to repeat this then, if you have the gear and experience, this is perhaps worth considering .
Large deep holes can be bored into wood using a chainsaw with the bar fitted with a boring guide.
The boring guide is a 150 mm long piece of 20mm metal pipe that is slotted so that it goes over the end of the bar nose and then bolted onto holes drilled in the bar .
The length of pipe poking out past the end of the bar is ~50 mm long.
A series of holes slightly larger than the guide diameter are drilled into the wood at appropriate spacing.
The 50 mm length of pipe is poked into a hole and the chainsaw is run flat out and rotated slowly as it is plunged into the wood.
The effect is to bore out holes with diameters equal to that of the width of the bar which can be around 100 mm
It requires are reasonably powerful saw with a really sharp chain.
This process is not for the faint hearted, nor for persons with limited chainsaw experience, as the likelihood of kickback is increased.
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25th September 2017, 02:20 PM #8Woodworking mechanic
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