Replies

1. 
   MrSQL | Oct 20, 2009 04:29am | #1

   laminate and save yourself the trouble and expense.  worst case is you see a slight glue line, but in my experience they "fade" because the table looks soo good you don't worry about it anymore. 

    

2. 
   nicko | Oct 20, 2009 04:41am | #2

    you could use a lock miter bit and use four pieces to make the leg, that way you could have all four sides of the leg with straight grain or face grain.

   if you need the leg to be solid, after you lock miter them, clamp them together without glue and mill a square piece to fit in the middle so it can just barley slide through.

   then unclamp them and glue them up. it can be time consuming to make all the lock miter joints but it makes the leg look nice

   good luck............nicko 

3. 
   James_Buxton | Oct 20, 2009 05:11am | #3

   I dion't like to see the seam.  16/4 cherry does exist.   My dealers stock it (San Francisco).

1. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Oct 20, 2009 05:27am | #4

   James,

   16/4 rift sawn cherry might be a bit steep pricewise, eh?  Not that I disagree with you mind.  I have two 10' x 8½" x 4" billets of rift sawn cherry, but that's because I had the sawyer cut it that way from my logs.

   Just asking about the price.

   Regards,  Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   James_Buxton | Oct 20, 2009 06:47am | #6

   Fairly often, you can get rift leg stock from the two edges of a plainsawn plank.    For a table, I'd be buying one thick plank which is likely eight or nine feet long, and getting four leg blanks out of it,  plus some other parts.   The last time I priced 16/4 cherry, it was somewhat over $10/bdft here on the west coast.   On the east coast it should be considerably less expensive.   There are also outfits that sell turning blanks, which are leg-sized pieces.  The bdft price is higher, but the scrap is lower.  Matthew Burak, Adams Wood, and Osborne Wood, are examples.

2. 
   jointerman | Oct 20, 2009 08:36am | #7

   Hi James,Who's your dealer in San Francisco? I'm near there. PALS?

1. 
   James_Buxton | Oct 20, 2009 05:53pm | #11

   MacBeath

1. 
   jointerman | Oct 21, 2009 08:15am | #15

   Yes. MacBeath is the other great lumber place. (I like PALs a lot). Interestingly I discovered this evening that I could likely get away with 12/4 with a finished dimension of 2-3/4". I went to my friends cabinet shop and he had milled wood to that dimension and it looks pretty substantial. I guess that's a real good reason to build prototypes!

1. 
   citrouille | Oct 22, 2009 01:45am | #16

   I would use 10 or 12/4 lumber and glue it up diagonally in order to have the glue joint in opposing corners.
   If you are careful you will have vertical grain on 4 sides.C.

2. 
   jointerman | Oct 23, 2009 02:47am | #17

   Intriguing, I hadn't ever heard of a diagonal glue up before. Thanks.

3. 
   citrouille | Oct 23, 2009 02:54am | #18

   If you are careful to keep the glue joint on the corner, it will be invisible.C.

4. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Oct 23, 2009 02:34pm | #20

   What method do you use for gluing the pieces together. 

   Doesn't gluing on the diagonal present some challenges?  I like your suggestion but wonder about gluing the pieces together.

   RegardsBob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

5. 
   jasonmcbain | Oct 23, 2009 03:44pm | #21

   face glue up 2 pieces flat and then make a series of 45 degree cuts to produce a square piece

6. 
   citrouille | Oct 23, 2009 03:53pm | #22

   Yes you can do that and it's the easiest way.
   If you don't want to waste so much wood, you make up the pieces triangular in section and you make some blocks that would fit on the corner and present a flat for the clamp.C.

7. 
   jasonmcbain | Oct 23, 2009 02:10pm | #19

   i agree with a diagonal glue up.  if careful you can then get rift sawn grain on all 4 faces which in my opinion looks far nicer  than the regular 2 quarter 2 flat legs.  you just have to be consious of taking equal amounts of all edges when surfacing to ensure the joint is right on the corner.

   Edited 10/23/2009 7:10 am ET by jasonmcbain

4. 
   Sawdust4real | Oct 20, 2009 06:05am | #5

   The type of leg you are aiming for and the type of finish is something to consider...for tapered legs i would suggest 10/4 , for cabriole legs 12/4 ,also the type of cherry does matter , i would suggest using the full thickness , but if you wish to join to make the thickness , try cutting all the legs from one piece of  wood, make sure you orient them according to the grain pattern on the end grain...will give you a good seam.

   good luck.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 10/19/2009 11:07 pm ET by Sawdust4real

1. 
   jointerman | Oct 20, 2009 09:05am | #8

   I'll be making straight square legs for a mission style table. Selecting matching pieces seems like it could lead to more waste and lot's of short cutoffs. I'm thinking it's better to just bite the bullet and go for the 16/4. Although, orienting pieces in the past has worked well, it seems the better choice this time.

1. 
   Sawdust4real | Oct 20, 2009 02:49pm | #9

   If you are measuring cost , you are better off going with the full thickness rather than gluing up pieces ....the math , u could look in short bins , some dealers have such.

2. 
   jackplane | Oct 20, 2009 04:57pm | #10

   Try White Bros Lumber in Oakland off San Leandro St.Expert since 10 am.

3. 
   James_Buxton | Oct 20, 2009 06:01pm | #12

   Oh!  If you're making square legs for mission furniture, you can do a construction  used by the Stickleys and others of the time.   They wanted quartersawn (oak) faces on all four faces of the posts.  That's impossible in solid lumber, so to achieve it they built up their posts from four quartersawn boards.   The edges of each board are beveled at 45 degrees (or lock-beveled), so the seams between boards falls at the corners of the glued-up post.  Your eye expects things to be changing at the corners, and you don't notice the seam at all.  

1. 
   jointerman | Oct 21, 2009 12:15am | #13

   Hi James,I happen to own a lock-miter joint router bit, but I haven't ever used it except for scrap tests. But I think that going with solid 16/4 cherry and hopefully finding rift sawn will be ideal. Unlike, the Stickley chairs with oak legs, I don't find a real need to hide the natural cherry grain.

1. 
   boilerbay | Oct 21, 2009 12:40am | #14

   I could go either way but with the consideration that the MC on that 16/4 was really stable otherwize, like any wood of that scale, you could have problems later. The 4 quarter/wrap core route is by far safer (stability wise), not that hard to do, can taper up and you would learn new skills.BB