Taper a leg, handplanes only?

[steven c newman]

here is a little question for the Neanderthal out there:


taper a leg, using just a few hand planes? Anyone other try this? Just mark a line on a leg blank, and plane to the line, repeat for a second taper, and do another leg?


Plane sizes you used? ( not concerned about who made them, just the sizes) Did you need sandpaper when done? Or, maybe a spokeshave? Scraper?


Or, just too much work?

[Prashun Patel]

Not too much work depending on the degree of your taper. In fact, if you want to round the corners or make a round, tapered leg, a spokeshave and planes can do it pretty quickly.

In fact, I think planing a taper on a leg is easier in some ways than planing a board flat. You'll see that when you try it.

[Tony Wilkins]

I'm doing the Shaker side table from C. Schwarz DVD and he tapers the legs. He simply draws the taper on one side and uses a #5 to work it down - the proceeding to exactly the same way with the second taper. For the first demonstration he cuts saw kerfs down to the line along the way to give a more visual reference.

[Zach Dillinger]

Very easy to do. Shouldn't need to sand but don't feel bad if you do. Start with a coarse set plane (straight iron, not cambered, iron should be wider than the leg) and finish with a jointer, smooth plane if necessary but you can probably get an acceptable finish with your jointer. There really aren't too many things that are easier to do.

[Chris Hachet]

Building three shakerish tables, for my living room, 1 two drawer, two one drawer, planning on using hand planes and tapering legs just like you guys are talking about.....

[Floyd Mah]

If you are intent on only using hand tools, how about removing most of the waste with a saw cut, trimming close to the final dimensions with a scrub plane if you are still far off (you know, the one that you bought a while back for the sake of completeness, but haven't used yet) and then pulling out the Stanleys and planing to the final dimensions. This sounds like a brute force method, but I just did this on the weekend to trim a fence post to fit a pre-existing fence hole. I don't see why it wouldn't work. You don't get the satisfaction of making shavings only, but then you can get on with your project in the shortest time.

[Dave Parkis]

I made a pair of end table using only hand tools. I used a #5 to get close and then switched to a #4. I probably could have finished with the #5, but I didn't want the #4 to feel neglected. It was surprising how quickly it went. Just be sure to draw your lines before you start.

[Jim Koepke]

Been there, done that, likely to do it again.

Start with short strokes at the foot end and work back. It is a good idea to have some lines to work to so you know when to stop.

Mark a center on the bottom, put an X from corner to corner to help keep the taper square.

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

One note in agreement with the above;

mark out a square at the bottom of the leg, where the foot reaches the ground.
This mark can be carried to the sides and will remain when you plane off a face.

When you're all done, an additional chamfer around the foot will keep the leg from splitting if the table is dragged.

If you're daring, a great deal of this can be done with a drawknife.
When I taper legs, I bandsaw close to the line and plane them all together for consistency.

[Tony Wilkins]

Jim, I'd thought about using my drawknife to start out but I'm not sure I'm daring enough. I should be starting on the legs soon - just got some long rips to get the right grain out of 8/4. *Ask me later if I regret not buying a band saw.

[lowell holmes]

I have an extra 10tpi crosscut saw that I refiled to rip cut. It will rip the legs close to the line very fast and it stays on the line.

You might want to try it.

I have the LV saw sharpening file holder. It works great. You can set the rake exactly at 8 degrees. I'm thinkng about refiling it with 10 degree rake.

It cuts faster than I want.

[Lowell Smith]

I used my bench, a 1/4 inch board and clamps to shoot the taper. This worked fairly quickly on 1 1/4 inch legs.

[Jim Neeley]

"When you're all done, an additional chamfer around the foot will keep the leg from splitting if the table is dragged."

+1 on this.

My approach would depend some on the amount of the taper but mostly on the material being used. By this I mean that if I was tapering 26" out of a 32" leg from 1-1/4" sq to 1/2" or 3/4" I'd be more inclined to use my scrub than a hand saw although there's nothing wrong with the saw.

More significantly though, if it was rock maple or harder I'd lean towards the saw, if soft like cherry I'd start with my #6 and switch to a scrub if itwas going too slow, but I doubt it.

That's just me though; there's nothing wrong with the #5 approach on hard wood if you have it set up with a good camber and are in good shape! :-)

[Jim Matthews]

I would be very interested to see your efforts with a drawknife documented here.

It's an under-utilized tool, even in my shop.
There's a video of Jim Tolpin wading through some stock (for a panel, if I recall) that was an eye-opener.

I'm not thinking of near perfect use as with fine chair makers, like Brian Boggs, but employing it as a pocket bandsaw - with one big tooth.


FYI - The little 9" POS bandsaws at your local Borg? They're awesome. With a sharp blade, they can be surprisingly good.

[Jim Matthews]

I used my bench, a 1/4 inch board and clamps to shoot the taper. This worked fairly quickly on 1 1/4 inch legs.

Was the 1/4" board the guide?
Pictures would be good...