Here are some pics of the final shaping of the legs before I start the carving. Initially I was shaping almost exclusively with rasps/files, but as I gained a little more confidence I found it was faster to remove waste working cross grain with a carving gouge.
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Trying to get the final continuous curve on the outer surface of the legs. I found a spoke shave was the way to go – left a nice smooth finish. This is my only spoke shave and based on this experience I think I might look for one with the rounded bottom that will allow me to work into tighter radius curves.
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Per George’s suggestion, trying to fair the curve on the last bit of the Knee where it joins the flat section of the leg. I think this is about as good as it’s going to get.
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The two outer surfaces are done and I’ve penciled in the line from the template for the two inward facing surfaces. Again the spoke shave and gouge’s got me pretty close to the layout line
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