What's the best way to cut a tapered octagonal chair leg?
The legs are 2" square oak blanks about 15" long. I need to taper them down to 3/4" with eight sides.
I've got the table saw set up with the taper jig, but I just don't feel comfortable with it.
Could I taper the blanks first and then cut the four other sides with a
45 degree chamfer on the router table?Need a second opinion.
patg
Cut the 8 sides on you TS then elevate to the angle that you want on the back end with a shim and make a pass on your jointer, rotate 180 degrees repeat. Rotate 90 degrees then 180. Then rotate 45 degrees, then 180 degrees. Then 90 degrees and then 180. After you have a long enough area to freehand with out the shim run through until you get the length taper that you want.
Drawknife.
-J
patg wrote in news:FTROd.188071$w62.88177 @bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
Greetings....in a similar situation to yours...I drew out the tapers on opposing faces and used a bandsaw to cut close to the line, and then too the line with a plane, then the same with the other two faces..the rest was done with a plane only, it's not really the fastest way, but you save sanding time, and your shop stays quiet....
hope this helps....
DCH
A plane is good. If used to noise, set up a box-jig and use a router. The side being routed should be flat to the support surface.
Go to the very bottom of this page:
The skinny taper jig can be used for 8 sided parts by adding a simple accessory, shims. What you need to add are shims planed to exactly the thickness of the blade. Save each wedge shaped waste cutoff, hot glue shims to them, and tape them back on. The first set of cutoff / shim parts can be used for all the duplicate legs, you don't have to make new ones with each leg.
A quick swipe with a cabinet scraper or well tuned #4 will clean off the minimal blade marks left by this method.
The work piece is held firmly in place for safe, accurate cutting.
Have fun, Barry
patg wrote in news:FTROd.188071$w62.88177@bgtnsc05- news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
I'd use a plane. You're looking at a pretty small blank, using a plane would be quick. Taper it 4-square, and then use an eight siding jig to mark it out for the octagonal taper (boatbuilders use this technique to make spars...you taper them 4-square, then
8-sided, then 16, and finally plane them round). An 8-siding jig is simply a block with 4 evenly spaced holes drilled thru it, you stick dowels thru the two outside holes & pencils thru the inner holes, and run it down your stock, rotating it so the dowels bear on the stock. Then the pencils will mark the correct lines to give a true octagonal result.Searching the web for boatbuilding pages should give some examples. Here's one for an 8-siding jig:
Thanks for the ideas.
What I ended up doing was using the taper jig from Toplins(sp?) saw book.
One pass on four sides created the taper needed.
A second pass with the blade set at 45 degrees created the bevel. Not perfect but pretty close.
I did have a brain freeze there for about a day.
Kinda like when you finish the left side of a bookshelf and realize you just created another right side...type of thing.
Also made 1 1/2 inch dowels on the ends before tapering them using the jig from the magic router book. Good stuff that. I wonder when we'll see volume two.
Anyway just finished carving the back of the chair into a Celtic knot kind of thing using straight edge razor in a handle. Took most of the day but the wife likes it.
Take care and thanks. patg
patg wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I'd be interested in seeing pictures of that...
Patriarch
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