Thread: Hollowing out log side table

Amazon has these bits that might help: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EHYEI1Q/ref=biss_dp_sa1

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.

Could you do it like a band saw box - cut the top off, cut in half, hollow out, reglue?

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.

It is an option but I would prefer not to have any joins.

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.

Originally Posted by GJM400b

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.

Using an Arbortech blade in an angle grinder with the side handle off is fraught with danger. There have been some gruesome pics. on the web.