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Thread: Need a jig to make a tapered round over

  1. #1
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    Need a jig to make a tapered round over

    I have table legs that go from a 2" x 2 1/2" rectangle at the apron end, down to 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" at the foot. I want to round the foot end of the legs, with the round-over tapering out to a rectangle as it goes up the leg to the apron end.

    Can anyone direct me to a jig I can make that will do this on a router table? Or is this best done with spokeshaves?

    thank you,
    Mark

  2. #2
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    Standard lathe job, imho.
    Jerry

    "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

  3. #3
    I agree that a lathe is the best way to do this.

    I follow it up with a block or smoothing plane to smooth the transition.

    If you do not have a lathe, I would personally (and have) just use a plane. Mark the circle on the foot, and the taper point on the leg. Then plane a tapered corner at 45 deg. Finally, blend over the corners.

    You could also construct a taper jig (for the bandsaw or tablesaw) to make that first 45 degree cut for you on all 16 sides of your legs. But IMHO, you'll still do best to round it over by hand.

    I am a big fan of the type of leg you're trying to make and do it often.

    Last, do not underestimate the ability of your Random Orbit Sander to complete the roundover after all your hand work. By rocking the ROS over the corner, you can get a pretty perfect circle (that is, to the naked eye).

  4. #4
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    Okay, seems the lathe has been voted in. I'll let you know if it works out for me. Thanks.

  5. #5
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    You may need to carefully calculate the centers for rounding off on the lathe given that you have an asymmetric profile top to bottom.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    My knee-jerk reaction is to layout witness lines and grab a spoke shave.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  7. #7
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    I agree with Jim. You are working with a rectangular section so a lathe is not as straightforward as it looks. Careful set-up required. Cheers

  8. #8
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    If I understand correctly what you want, a lathe ain't gonna do it. What you want, I think, is a cross section that is circular at the bottom, morphing cleanly and smoothly to a square at the top. Anyplace in the middle of the leg, the cross section is not circular. Lathes make circles. That is, the lathe is not going to do what you want.

    I routinely do stuff like this with just a hand plane. You don't even need a spokeshave. Draw your circle at the bottom of the leg. Then make cuts with the plane up the leg to the other end. Take more cuts at the bottom than at the top. Watch what you're doing, and it is amazing how quickly and accurately you can make this leg.

    To hold the leg while I'm working on it, I'd clamp it at the ends using a bench dog and the end vise on my bench. But if you don't have those, you can clamp the leg at the ends in a pipe clamp, and then clamp the pipe clamp to your bench.

  9. #9
    lathe is still the best way. In fact there is an opportunity to make your leg splayed as well as tapered if you offset the top and bottom centers relative to the outside.

  10. #10
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    The lathe can be used to at least partially do the shaping, but it may require additional work with hand tools to refine.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
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    Jim- correct. Made some queen anne style legs once. Used the lathe on the bottom of the feet, then resawed from two faces and finished each with spokeshave and rasps, Nicholson 50, and fine files, then sandpaper. Amazing how close you can get four legs using your thumb and forefinger as a gauge.
    Jerry

    "It is better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

  12. #12
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    I milled a practice leg today from a construction 4x4 and tried to turn it on the lathe. Worked okay, but I'll do a couple more doug fir practice pieces. The real legs will be in hickory, so if I can do this on a lathe it'll save me a deal of trouble.

    I've done some shaping of legs for Boggs type ladder back chairs using draw knives and spoke shaves, but that was with red oak. Hickory is a step up in hardness.

  13. #13
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    That's a very, VERY good thing to work things out on prototypes before committing to the real deal, especially with something that has any kind of "complication" or challenge!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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