Thread: Blending cabrioles

My belief, although I can't give you a reference, is that the blend occurs at the change from a concave curve to a convex.

Because the curves and proportions of the cabriole legs vary according to the thickness of the leg and the length of the leg, this probably accounts for the inconsistency. Possibly too, the position of the change of curve, unless planned and marked out in the design, can be hard to spot. The "that looks right" approach takes over in this case.

Hi bookend,

Thank you so much! The advice on blending from concave to convex certainly rings a bell in the old memory bank.

Here's a progress pic, and the design pic ... I forgot to mention, rough sawn on bandsaw and shaped with rasp, spokeshave and paper. Still some work to do but some of that will come with blending into the rails.

I posted the wrong plan image. Sort of. A measurement is incorrect. For whatever reason the software decided the legs are 215 long when they're 430!

hi lazy, which cad program do you use? thanks in advance, spencer.

Hi spencer,

It's actually the LayOut component of Sketchup Pro. I built the components in Sketchup, changed the camera to Parallel projection (essentially a 2D view). Then imported them into LayOut.

It was handy being able to make the templates for the leg and apron(?) rails 1:1 scale, cut them out and glue to some 5mm mdf and shape with band saw and paper.

I'll finish off the joinery and begin assembly next week.

Lazyfly - I too, think it's a case of 'wot looks right'. I've examined a few legs from a range of times and they vary a lot depending on the period (& probably the skill & sophistication of the makers). To me, the attractivenss of a cabriole comes from the combination of defined curves & the softer shapes that give them that organic appearance. Must admit I've never thought about making the transitions at a fixed point. The shape I like best preserves the sharpish corner of the inside curve, then blends down into the round ankle. The front (out-facing) corner can start as a sharp point or be more softened, and you gradually increase the rounding down to the ankle. However, I have seen many that have hardly any shaping other than smoothing of the saw marks!

These pics are of a Walnut coffee table, so the shape is a bit compressed (like a Dachshund compared with your Labrador legs ), but might show what I'm trying to describe.

Cheers,