# Removing excess weight when there is nothing to remove???



## Allen1 (Mar 6, 2014)

My next project is going to be a new dining room table. I have a massive piece of red oak trunk that is hollow and I'm going to make the entire top look like a butcher block out of yellow pine. The problem is the hollow weighs a dang ton. Is there anyway that y'all could think of to remove some of the weight and still keep the rustic appearance of it? By the way there will be a cutout in the table top so that you ca see into the hollow. The cutout will have safety glass on it... I can draw a pic and upload it tomorrow and a pic of the hollow if you need.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Mar 7, 2014)

Need pix.... a top view looking straight down the hollow with a tape measure to see thickness. How tall is it? How wide? Will you be moving this table often? What kind of floor is it going to be setting on? Is there going to be a light source inside the hollow part? Just wondering what the glass is for...


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## Schroedc (Mar 7, 2014)

One question is how sound is the hollow log portion? how much material can you remove and still have enough structural integrity to keep the table upright? My thought would be to increase the hollow by carving it out to thin the walls.

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## Allen1 (Mar 7, 2014)

I will get pics in the morning I didn't get off work till late but hey overtime helps the pocketbook haha... The hollow part will be about 25 inches tall. I plan to build a base to give it some height. There will be some sort of light source on the inside it will need to battery operated so that I can just remove the glass to replace the batteries so I don't have to run a plug out of the bottom. And no I never plan to move it again. And the floor is just a regular floor...? Ummh it has floor joists with 5/8 plywood and then 1/4 inch concrete board and then some vinyl flooring stuff that looks like wood planks. The hollow is 32 inches in diameter give or take its not completely round. As far as how sound it is... At the moment it's good but who knows how much it could take out.

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## brown down (Mar 9, 2014)

what is beneath the floor your setting it on. you can buy a floor box and your outlet would be flush to the floor. this way the only thing you have to replace are the lamps!

how heavy is the base compared to the top. if you lighten the base too much its gonna be a top heavy table. you could thin out the walls to whatever thickness you want, just bolt it to the floor if it ain't going anywhere! or add sand in the bottom to add that extra weight needed to stabilize it


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## Allen1 (Mar 9, 2014)




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## Allen1 (Mar 9, 2014)




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## Allen1 (Mar 9, 2014)

Sorry it took me so long to get pics I had to wait for the woman to go to work so that I could commandeer the iPad haha. Anyway I haven't got the top made yet so I have no clue but this base has to be lightened somehow. It weighs at least 250 or 300 lbs. I plan to chip out what is left of the heart wood, but I don't think that will lighten it enough. The sap wood varies from 2.5 inches to about 5 inches. So maybe I could try to make it somewhat even all the way around.... I have to admit this is just a tad bit out of league so would y'all have any suggestions as to how to go about doing this. And brown down thanks for the idea about the floor box I will look into that. And also please pardon my dirty shop, I'm like a mad man when I get started on a project and my shop purty much explodes.


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## Allen1 (Apr 1, 2014)

Hey guys I just wanted to let y'all know that I haven't fell off the face of the earth or nothin haha. Also I have made quite a bit of progress on the table I switched it up a little bit but as far as the hollow log I cut it up into 8 pieces and I'm only going to use four of them it will still be hefty but not so bad that you have possess herculean strength to move it either. I will post some pics soon but my question of the day is..... How would y'all go about cutting the ends off level?


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## Allen1 (Apr 1, 2014)

Ok I got the pics. The first is of the base . The top of the base is glued in place and ready to have the sides skinned in white pone also. I'm going to make a router sled tomorrow before work and get busy planing it down. The next is the table top it is ready to be glued up and the next I just placed the legs on the base to give y'all an idea of what I have in mind I plan to get a couple of small red oak logs if you could call them that maybe 6-8 inches in diameter and put them in an X brace in between the legs to sturdy up the table some



 

 and again pardon the dirty shop once I get ready to start finishing it I'll clean it up and let y'all see the whole thing


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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)

Yep I really need y'all's help guys I'm taking a vacation day so I can get some work done here. I would appreciate it


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## Kevin (Apr 2, 2014)

If I'm understanding what you're trying to do, the boards that make up the top are entirely too thin, and the top itself is entirely too small for such massive legs. The legs are also the extreme of rustic - which is okay, but they are not a good choice for a breadboard type construction even if the scale were correct. Finally, at least to my eye that base is not attractive (it looks like a pallet) and it will not be stable as constructed. The frame (or n this case base) of a table needs to have a "footprint" because if everything is flat underneath with no reliefs (to create virtual "feet") it will rock since there's no such thing as a level floor.

I hope you don't take this as an entirely negative critique because I totally salute you and admire you for doing this. And this is just my opinion based on my perhaps limited understanding of what you're trying to achieve. And on top of all that, even if my understanding of your goal is correct, it might still look great once you are done since this is just one man's opinion.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)

No man I don't take it badly at all I know that the top is very thin I wish I could explain better what I'm trying to do. I may try to draw a picture or something, I wish I knew how to use cad haha. Anyway as far as the base it isn't completely flat on the bottom I built it hollow with a solid top(on the base). Hold on let me try to sketch something up real quick and maybe it will give you a better idea of it.

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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)




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## Kevin (Apr 2, 2014)

Are you planning on leaving the legs as they are or are you going to dimension them any?


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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)

Ok so on the table top once it is glued up I plan to make it kind of an oval. Using a makeshift protractor I plan to put a small finishing nail in the dead center of the table with a string attached and draw the line so that it is perfect. And then cut it out that way. Then I figured I would put a decently thick brace on the bottom and the black spots are where it would fit over the legs. Kinda like a mortise and tenon. As far as the actual scale the top is bigger than it looks in the picture. But still thin. Umm the base if it isn't attractive I'm not sure what to do I thought it looked good but I have a dog in the fight so to speak. Ok did this help at all to explain what I'm attempting to do? I really hope that it does look as good as it does in my mind so let me know bud and don't hold anything back. "As iron sharpens iron so may one man sharpen another" proverbs 27:17


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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)

I plan to chop all of the rotten heartwood off. And sand it down really well.and I need to make them stand level but I'm not sure how exactly how to do that

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## Kevin (Apr 2, 2014)

The1Allen said:


> I plan to make it kind of an oval. Using a makeshift protractor I plan to put a small finishing nail in the dead center of the table with a string attached and draw the line



Are you planning an oval or a round (circle) top?


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## Allen1 (Apr 2, 2014)

I was planning on an oval top that way I old still have the same measurements of 4 ft by 5 ft


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## frankp (Apr 16, 2014)

Here's a completely different idea than yours. Take the hollow and quarter it. Clean off the outer few inches, square them, and turn it all inside out. Then you get the aesthetic of something "rustic" but also very unique with a single pedestal base that you can put your table top on and it will be less "huge" looking too, while also reducing the weight dramatically.

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## Allen1 (Apr 19, 2014)

Hey thanks frank sry it took me so long to get back I thought this thread had died until I get a little more done on the table anyway. This week has been very busy we have been on a " vacation" of sorts and we've rarely been at home. But anyway I actually cut it into eighths


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## frankp (Apr 22, 2014)

Well don't forget to post pics and show us the final!


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## Allen1 (Apr 24, 2014)

Will do bud I'm having a hard time getting back to the table I scorched the bottom of my still so I'm upgrading it now going from a ten gallon wash pot to a twenty five gallon it will produce about 15 gallons of whatever I decide to brew shine or rum or brandy prolly about 10 or 11 gallons after I make my cuts... Just btw I don't sell it I'm not a bootlegger or nothing like that lol. I drink some of it and give some of it to my buddies mostly I just do it for fun although I did get one of my friends to mow and weed eat my yard for a gallon and I have a two and a half acre yard haha... Sorry I probably shouldn't post that on this thread m bad

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## frankp (Apr 24, 2014)

Stills are legal here in VA and you can even sell what you make as of last year. Good luck with the upgrade, though. Being able to brew up my own brandy would be awesome but that's one hobby I just don't have the time or commitment to get into.

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