Finally a new project: need help: (1) tapered legs; (2) flattening warped slab

[Stan Tillinghast]

I have my Festool stuff now in Maui where I am working, and I'm starting a new "commission" from the Mrs.:
a hall table, 4 inches long, 36 inches tall. I want the base to have tapered legs (haven't decided on the wood).
The top will be a slab of chocolate heart Albizia with a "live" edge. It's a beautiful piece of wood, but the ends are fairly warped on this 9-foot long by 1 1/8 inch slab.

I have enough to use the middle of the board where warping is the least, but I will still have to flatten one side. I can then take it back to the hardwood dealer where I bought it to run it through a thickness planer if I wish.

I have flattened the surface of a large redwood slab with the HL850E planer with good results. I would use winding sticks and chalk as per my old Fine Woodworking archive. An alternative method I have read about is making a sled on rails for the router Tage Frid style (used for making workbench tops) and slowly routing off the high points of the top.

I have never made tapered legs with the Festool tools, and wonder how you would go about making a jig to use with the circular saw (I have the TS 55 EQ). I want the legs to be thin, perhaps 1.5 inch at the top tapering to 1 inch at the bottom; and I want them to be tapered on all 4 sides.

I am buying a Domino to join the legs to stretchers at the top.

I am happy to have found a source for Hawaiian hardwood so I can finally tackle a long-planned furniture project. Thanks for your help.

 

[Kev]

Not really a direct answer to your question, but on the taper issue ... I've been "background thinking" this issue for a while (not that I have an immediate application, it's just an interesting problem).

I'm thinking of something along the lines of a long rectangular "rotisserie" frame with some form of indexing collar clamp/spikes at each end that can slide within the frame for adjustment. Then the track sits on top of the frame and you set your taper ... cuts 1,2,3,4 ... done!

Trouble is - if it was a good idea I would have thought someone would have done something like this already and I haven't seen it in my searching  [sad]

 

[Timtool]

I usuallly taper legs on the two inside sides only, and do this on my sliding table saw simply by drawing the cut line and clamping the leg on the table so that saw follows the line.
then i always pass the tapered side on the jointer to make it perfectly flat and smooth.
You could o it with a TS55, the problem is getting the rail to hold on such a small part, you need to make a jig like on the pic below, in which you can squeeze the legs and lay the rail on top of it at the correct angle. doing 4 tapers is tricky though, on ce two are done, the legs will not lay flat anymore, but you can still press the cut off part under it.

[attachimg=#]

About the slab, getting it planed is an option, but it depends on how badly it is warped, you could lose allot of thickness to get it flat on both sides. You could cut it in 2-3sections with the TS, but at a certain angle, so when you glue it back together the angle compensates the warp.

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

I don't think I'll have to do anything drastic like ripping the board and gluing it back together.

I did see a hint on another search: about leaving a "foot" of the taper uncut. That would work, but the guide rail would perhaps need some additional support? I think I'm going to try that with some scrap.

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Stan

I would only do this one way as safety is the biggest issue when working with narrow (in guide rail terms) stock.

See the attached drawing.

I would make up a backing board as close as possible to the thickness of the leg stock. I might even make my leg stock match thicknesses that are easy to produce (3x 3/4 inch ply = 2 1/4 inch say or whatever you want). I then cut a long taper on the front edge of the backing board at the angle that you wish to cut along the leg blank. This can be done safely with a guide rail as the backing board is wider than the guide rail.

Next, make sure that your leg blanks are several inches longer than needed because you need to drill screw holes in each end which will eventually be lost as waste. The drill holes need to be done such that the screw heads are definitely beyond the saw line. Screw the leg stock to the tapered front edge of the backing board.

Now do a straight cut across, using you guide rail, and you have the first cut done. You can then repeat the process for one more side.

Do watch the screws!

Peter

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

Stone Message --

Thanks so much for the drawing--the screws would definitely hold the workpiece in place.
What about the taper on the side 90 degrees from the first cut?

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Stan

There are two things to do...

First, the screw holes need to be staggered so that they do not overlap when the stock is turned by 90 degrees. So, put one screw hole (say) 1" from the end and then the second (now at 90 degrees) 2" from the end of the leg stock. Otherwise the screwed joint might not be strong enough.

Second, cut the first taper so that the cut edge can be uppermost when cutting the second taper. The guide rail will not touch the top of the stock to be cut on the second pass but the backing board will provide plenty of support for it.

Peter

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

Well, I'm going to give that a try. I'll let you all know how it works out.

Thanks again.

 

[PaulMarcel]

Tapering a leg with a hand plane is pretty easy; since you have a powered hand plane (HL850), why not use that?  Draw the taper on the stock and plane away.  It's like taking staggered multiple passes... on the end needing the most removed, plane 2" next swipe, back up 1", next swipe back up another 1".  You'll easily get the feel for it and be able to adjust as you go.  Best part about a taper is that you're always planing in the correct grain direction, unless it's some gnarly piece of burl, which would make questionable legs anyway.

Like Tim said, normally the taper is on the two insides so give it a look after the first two sides are done.

Edit: I've never used the HL850 so I'm assuming this would be easy to do with it; certainly it's easy with "ATP-powered" hand-planes and/or spokeshaves.

 

[rdesigns]

4-sided tapers are a little more difficult, but you can easily do this with your TS 55.

The first two cuts (those on opposide sides, not 90 degrees to each other) are easy: just draw the line for the taper and match that line to the cut line of your track. You will need to support the width of the track with a piece the same thickness as the leg blank. (Use the Panther blade for ripping if you have one.)

Save an offcut to support the next two cuts.

Use double-stick tape to stick the tapered offcut back onto the tapered leg. You will need to trim a few inches off its length at the thin end of the taper in order to slide it forward enough to bring the leg blank up to the original thickness so that the track rests fully on the length of the leg blank.

Flattening the slab is probably best done with a well-tuned handplane, winding sticks and straightedge if you don't have access to a really wide jointer. For a one-time project like this, the hand-planing method will be quicker and less prone to mistakes than trying to rig up some jig to use the router, etc.

Best of luck, but if you do a good job, you'll have opened the door to your wife's imagination for an unending list of projects. The upside of this is that you'll be able to convince her of the necessity of your purchasing a lot more tools.  ;D

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

"Best of luck, but if you do a good job, you'll have opened the door to your wife's imagination for an unending list of projects. The upside of this is that you'll be able to convince her of the necessity of your purchasing a lot more tools. "

The Domino arrived today.
On order:
--Lie-Nielsen #62 plane
--Lie-Nielsen bronze block plane
--Lie-Nielsen scrub plane

[big grin]

Probably a $2,000 table altogether.... [wink]

 

[mouppe]

Congratulations. The #62 is an outstanding plane. I use mine for almost everything, including preliminary flattening. I also have the small low angle bronze block plane- that would be my "desert island" plane- which is a pleasure to use.

I'd like to know whether you find the scrub plane useful- I've always made do without one so far and haven't missed it yet.

Did you get the domino xl or 500? I use dominoes to join legs to aprons and it works a treat. Very simple and if you want an offset it's very straightforward.

 

[PaulMarcel]

I also have the small low angle bronze block plane- that would be my "desert island" plane- which is a pleasure to use.

I'd think you'd rather have a compass plane... so you could better build a boat

 

[mouppe]

You're assuming I want to leave the island!

 

[Stone Message]

Stan

Have you made the legs yet? How did you make them? Are you pleased with the result?

Photographs please!

Peter