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bower · October 9, 2015

I know what you mean about dirilling a hole that far... no easy task.

You would probably have to make yourself a custom bit to get 1 1/2 ft from either end. As you say, splitting and gluing back together would be the faster approach, even if you made yourself a monster drill press.
Maybe the long drill setup could be done by adapting a wood lathe?

Making or acquiring the tools for that job would be well worth it if you were planning to make lamps as an ongoing thing. I've thought about it myself, as a lamp could be a nice, high end product if it's done right.

One thing I've noticed, root wood is incredibly hard and fine grained. It's the highest density wood part of any tree, afaict.

So whatever you do with it, it will likely be super stable and strong.

October 9, 2015	#45
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,793	I know what you mean about dirilling a hole that far... no easy task. You would probably have to make yourself a custom bit to get 1 1/2 ft from either end. As you say, splitting and gluing back together would be the faster approach, even if you made yourself a monster drill press. Maybe the long drill setup could be done by adapting a wood lathe? Making or acquiring the tools for that job would be well worth it if you were planning to make lamps as an ongoing thing. I've thought about it myself, as a lamp could be a nice, high end product if it's done right. One thing I've noticed, root wood is incredibly hard and fine grained. It's the highest density wood part of any tree, afaict. So whatever you do with it, it will likely be super stable and strong.