Tapered Table legs

[Larkan]

Anyone any tips on how to cut tapered legs for a hall table or an explanation (articles, website, etc) on how its done?
Thanks
Kerry

[silentC]

Most commonly done with a tapering jig on the table saw.

eg: http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/video/tablesaw-tapering-jig-is-safer-and-faster.aspx

Or you can cut the taper with a bandsaw and clean up with a hand plane.

[FenceFurniture]

This is how I did mine on a Festool CMS table saw

http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=189383

It has a sliding table to which the jig was attached. As near as I can tell the tapering jig must slide past the saw blade - I couldn't figure out any other way of doing it. On a "proper" TS you could make a sled that runs in both mitre channels - that will do the same thing.

[Larkan]

Thanks everyone. Like everything easy when you see it done and explained. :D

Many thanks
Kerry

[fletty]

Hi Kerry,
My normal method for tapering legs is to use my jointer. This method gives a very gentle curve to the taper AND leaves a 'foot'.
If you have access to a jointer you might want to look at my thread creatively titled 'tapering legs on a jointer' ....?
A hall table made this way is also shown late in the thread 'chair design 101'
fletty

[FenceFurniture]

Ah, now this is a wickedly good idea fletty, and I think (without looking at your thread yet) that I can see how it would work. Simply lift up the back end onto a block (maybe clamp it into a simple jig) and do ever increasingly longer passes until the surface can support itself - then finish the length?

Very keen on this idea because it is an unknown fact that I am the forum champion of tapered anything off the jointer - don't even need a jig. :no::B:C:~

[fletty]

Close, but especially with the segmented cutter, the entire taper is done in a single pass.
Basically, you drop the in feed table by (say) 10mm, fix a block on the infeed table for a start point that ensures the length of the untapered portion, fix a block on the out feed table as a stop point that ensures the length of the foot. It is very quick and, if done in 2 passes with the second pass being only a skim cut, the leg is virtually finished straight off the jointer.
After cutting the blanks, you can taper a leg in only a few minutes.
fletty