Replies

1. 
   DonC | Nov 18, 2009 12:28am | #1

   Seems like an easy task for the table saw. I don't know why you feel it is no good. Use a tall fence, feather boards and a helper at the outfeed if it's a large table top.

1. 
   miserybob | Nov 18, 2009 12:42am | #2

   I'm thinking the taper (may be larger than 4") will be more than the height of the TS blade. 

   I'm thinking I can do it with a jig on the band saw....

2. 
   SgianDubh | Nov 18, 2009 02:17am | #3

   I do the bulk of that task with a hand held power planer. Mark a pencil line on the edge of the panel your desired 3/8" down from the top face. On the bottom face of the panel mark another pencil line 4" in from the edge.

   I'm assuming you have access to a hand held power planer, but maybe you don't, but anyway, fire it up and start hacking across the end grain. Adjust the angle by eye as required and plane all across without quite getting to either the edge pencil line or the bottom face pencil line. Next do the two long grain edges the same. Lastly dig out a no 7 or 6 or 5, and/or 4 hand plane and tidy the job up, end grain first, then long grain.

   I can usually create all four bevels ready for a bit of polish on an average table top about 4' or 5' long X about 3' or so in half an hour to 45 minutes.  Slainte.

   richardjonesfurniture.com

   
   

   ---

   Edited 11/17/2009 6:59 pm by SgianDubh

1. 
   miserybob | Nov 18, 2009 06:56am | #5

   Thank you, Richard, for your response, you're an invaluable resource!  I knew there was a right way to do it.

   I don't have a hand power planer, sadly... maybe I'll try a bandsaw jig on a smaller piece and then plane it down manually, just to see if it can be safely done.

   Thanks!

   Edited 11/17/2009 10:58 pm by miserybob

1. 
   MikeHennessy | Nov 18, 2009 03:13pm | #8

   " I knew there was a right way to do it."

   Well, be advised that there is seldom "a" right way to do something. Most likely there are several "right" ways. I'm pretty sure Richard would agree that his suggested solution is not "the" right way, but is merely one way that he uses that may work for you.

   The table saw (which should get you almost 4" on a full-size saw), hand planes, power plane, bandsaw, a rotary planer in a drill press, a bevel jig with a thickness planer or router, etc., etc., or a combination of these -- they all present good solutions to the problem. It's up to the builder to choose which way (s)he prefers to solve the problem, given the tools available. Or, use it as an excuse to purchase a new tool. ;-)Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.

1. 
   miserybob | Nov 18, 2009 05:53pm | #9

   Good point!  Of course, there is a wrong way to do it... I know, because it's usually the first one I try!

   Thanks!

    

3. 
   PSeverin | Nov 18, 2009 02:27am | #4

   This may seem terribly old fashioned, but a plane will do the work surprisingly quickly. That's how I did the same thing with 6" wide tapers onsimilar stock 20 inches wide. It is a methodical approach that leaves you with bags of wonderful kindling. I tried to shorten the amount of work by pushing the top through a table saw, but wavered as I came to the end and dinged the corner. But even then it only started the bevel, the rest was done with the plane.

   I used a taper on the top of a small cabinet and a tall one. A friend said she didn't like the thin edge on the low cabinet and I ended up making the projecting cap on the tall cabinet heavier with a 3/4" top band to give the crown more weight.

   Now I'm planning to make a taper across 8" that goes from 3/4" to nothing. I'm going to add the tapered pieces to the bottom of a normal top. I'm thinking that I may start cutting the taper with a kerf on each side on a table saw and then use a hand saw to finish the cut. Even so I'll leave enough to plane down to a final surface.

   Peter

1. 
   miserybob | Nov 18, 2009 07:05am | #6

   Thanks, Peter.  I'm relatively new to hand tools, but I'm trying to really push myself this year to improve my work.  What type of plane did you use for the job?

   Thanks!

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Nov 18, 2009 06:15pm | #10

   Agree there are several ways to skin a cat and it will depend on what you have on hand to skin one. I did a hutch a few months ago with a taper on 3 sides of the top that was 1" stock tapered to 11/16" that was 3 1/2" deep  on the perimeter of a 12" x 72" top.

   I did the initial hog on the TS on the long grain. Keep in mind a 10" TS will not go the full 3" when the blade is angled. But.. I used a 12" blade with a 1" to 5/8" adapter to cut the long grain to get just over the 3" mark. But.. you cannot place a 72" long top on the TS with a 36" tall table and 8' ceiling to do the initial hogging on the end grain. It simply won't fit.

   So.. I do have a power planer and used it on the end grain and the remaining depth of the long grain down to 3 3/8" when I used a # 5 jack plane on the long grain and low angled smoother plane to take it to the bull-eye's mark of 3 1/2". So.. I used what I have!

   The BS will probably work on the hogging but.. would be to your advantage to learn to use the hand planes as in some cases they are the ticket to ride to the finish line. A power plane is nothing more than a high speed bullet train in hand plane use IMO and nice to have around but not a necessity if you have standard hand planes. You just raise your heart-beat level and sweat more with a standard hand plane. ha..ha..

   Good luck...

   Sarge..

   Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia

   Edited 11/18/2009 10:18 am ET by SARGEgrinder47

4. 
   flairwoodworks | Nov 18, 2009 09:12am | #7

   Bob,

   My first choice would be a hand plane (any one that wouldn't cause tearout). My second choice would be a router with an angled base or angled jig. That is assuming the table is too large/unwieldy to cut on the TS.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodworks.com
   and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)

    - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

5. 
   Jfrostjr | Nov 19, 2009 07:38pm | #11

   A spoke shave will do the job in the amount of time it takes to set-up a machine.

   I'm not a "hand-tool nut" but I do want the easiest, fastest way to get the job done.

   Frosty

   “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert,
   in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”

   Milton Friedman

6. 
   BenM | Nov 19, 2009 08:10pm | #12

   I would use a scrub plane to remove most of the wood and then a finely set handplane to finish.  It's a lot faster than you might think.