Ya, ideally I would use 5/16 or 1/4, but we don't have it and off season projects are on a shoestring budget. Dropping the plate to 1/4 would save me 3.2 lbs if I left it with as many holes in it as I do currently, but that would be to weak. Likely I could shave off 2 lbs by doing thinner material and triangular cutouts.
If 45 lbs is considered heavy the women of our shop are quite obese
