Replies

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Mar 21, 2004 05:21pm | #1

   Weasel

      Do you live close to the Canadian-U.S. border? Do you have any freinds in the U.S. that could purchase here and send them to you as a gift? You could send them a check later.

      If you live close to the border, I will give you a tip my customers in Canada use a lot. If not, diregard that question.

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   weasel | Mar 21, 2004 05:34pm | #2

   I live in Edmonton, about 400 miles from the border.  As to sending them up as a gift, I think that may not go unnoticed by those who guard against such heinous crimes:-).

   I'd love to here your other idea though, I expect to be in Vancouver this summer.  That is within spitting distance of the border.

   Thanks

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Mar 21, 2004 07:33pm | #3

   Weasel

     I have a lot of Canadian customers that are close to the border and order "old muscle car" parts often. A lot of those guys will get a box at one of the Mail Box businesses on the U.S. side. They still have to pay customs, but greatly reduce the over-all cost because they walk it across Customs instead of paying UPS or some other shipper to broker it for them.

   Regards...

   sarge..jtProud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   AlanTurner | Mar 22, 2004 02:11pm | #4

   Ah, cabriole legs.  A great thing to learn.  I do not know of a book that deals with this specifically, but there are several sources of good information.  Jeff Greene's book on period furniture covers the subject in some detail.  And there are about 5 or so excellent articles in FWW, if you have access to the back issues.  When I first started making them, I read all I could find, and found that the articles by Lonnie Bird, and by Eugene Langdon, to be the most helpful.  What you need to understand is the relationship between the corner post, the knee area, the ankle, and the foot.  Both Bird and Greene provide historical dimensions that work well, both structurally and visually.  You will probably pick the size of your cornerpost, and the total height, first, and then design around them.  Many feet can be used.

   I sometimes spend 10 or 15 hours on a new cabriole leg design, which is way longer than it takes to make them from the finished pattern.  Go with 1/8" BB ply for your patterns, and don't be afraid of a curved bottom spokeshave.  Both the Boggs, from LN, and the new Veritas, are excellent.  The Boggs has quite a tight mouth, and a 10" radius.  The Veritas is a much tighter radius, and the mouth will let you take larger shavings.  like others, I also use the No. 49 and NO. 50 patternmakers rasps from Nicholson, esp. on the knee area, but I like the shave best.  You will need a wide long chisel for the final paraing cut from the knee into the apron.  You only get one chance on this.  Do it after installation of the knee block, if you are using one.  Use hide glue for the knee block attachment since you will have trouble getting a clamp on it.  Remember that just like you can sight a board for straightness by looking down the edge, you can sight a curve for regularity the same way.

   Holding the leg for shaping is a trick.  Some use a bar clamp, end to end, and then clamp the bar in a  vise.  I have an Emmert, and so flip the jaws above the table, clamp the post in the jaws, and clamp a board across the bench to "catch" the bottom of the leg, which for me works well.

   Draw like crazy, full size on a grid, make a pattern, glue up some poplar and go at it.  After you make the mock-up, adjust it and then go back and adjust your pattern.  Then, save both the mock-up and the pattern for re-use.  The bandsaw method of initial shaping is well documented.  Remember to cut your joints, usually mortises, while the legs are still square.  In fact, I build the whole table before shaping the legs.  I think you will find that mahogany is the easiest to work with as it is straight grained, and shapes quite easily.  Walnut is another good choice. 

   Wood selection is important.  I recommend rift cut 12/4.  With rift cut, you will find that the contiguous faces are pretty even in appearance.  If you want the bullseye on the knee, take the grain side to side; if you want the grain to generally follow the curve of the leg, take it the other way.

   Have fun, and good luck.  They are much easier than first appearances would suggest.

   Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com

1. 
   weasel | Mar 23, 2004 04:15am | #5

   My collection of FWW goes back to issue #118.  Guess which ones are missing!  Any issue with anything about cabriole legs.  I am going looking for Jeff Greene's book tonight.  Thanks for the help.

2. 
   weasel | Mar 23, 2004 04:43am | #6

   P.S.

   I forgot to mention, I went to your web site to admire your workmanship.  I loved it!  Do you want to share how you drilled the angled holes for the legs on you benches?  Did you do them with a tilted table on a drill press and a forstner bit?

   Thanks

1. 
   AlanTurner | Mar 23, 2004 01:31pm | #7

   Thanks for the kind words.  Now, if clients would just come streaming in!  A few have, but it is a new venture for me, and I am not giving up my day job just yet.

   No big secret on the drilling for the splayed legs.  I tilt the DP table, and clamp onto it an aux. table which is also angled.  I do use a forstner bit, but with this, since the center spur is not the first part of the drill to contact the stock, I use a centering device, from MLCS, I think ($5).  Drill opposite corners, and then reverse the DP table, and do the other two corners.   A bit of a trick to accurately set the DP table.  For the first several years, I leveled the DP with a digital level, and then used that same level to set the two positions.  Later, I acquited a machine protractor made by Bridge City.  I don't know whether they still make this setup device, but it is quite accurate.  The angle for the DP table is 15.6 degrees from horiz; the angle of the aux table is 7 degrees.  Note that the benchtop should be drilled from the top, so that any tearout is on the bottom, and covered by the shoulder of the leg tenon.  This means that the bulk of the top will be located between the quill and the post, which may limit the width of your benchtop, depending upon the size of your DP.   Mine are usualy about 36 by 9" wide, made with a 15" DP.

   Cut the tenon with a tenoning bit on the DP, with the table flipped to vertical.  Then mount the legs, being quite careful on setting the angles.  You will need two bevel guages (I made a pair as I make many of these).  Then scribe the shoulders.  These are cut with a back saw, and the cuts are a bit tricky.  Finish the tenons with a gouge or wide chisel, reinstall the legs, trim to horiz. about 1/4" above the top, mark the wedge positions across the benchtop with a good square, and cut by hand with a backsaw.

   Be very careful in your setups to get the splays all even or it looks off.  If you go with a wane edge, you will find the setup even trickier, and you for these I work off of a centerline.

   The legs are 4 way tapered, after the tenon is cut.

   This is probably more than you wanted to know, but this piece is not difficult, and finds many uses in the home.  Takes me under 6 hours to make, plus finishing time, of course.  The first ones took quite a bit longer.  Sometimes I make them up in smallish production runs of about 5 or 6, depending if I am going to put them inot a store on consignment, and then I can get the time per unit down a bit.

   Feel free to email me if you have further questions.Alan

   http://www.alanturnerfurnituremaker.com