How do you cut a 4-Way Taper Leg

[WoodWrangler]

I've cut a two-way taper leg, but now I'm need of a four-way taper. Any tips or suggestions on how to pull this off safely?

 

[FredP]

I use my tapering sled. mark the center of the small end and drill a small hole. I use a screw in the end of my jig to hold that end. after the first 2 sides I use a cutoff to support the leg for the last 2 cuts. clear as mudd huh?:gar-Bi

 

[BenBen]

In my assumption, you want a leg that is tapered on one end on all four sides, resulting in a smaller footprint...that being said, wouldn't you set up your taper jig, and just keep rotating the 'square' end of the leg and making a pass on your table saw until all sides are tapered? Conceptually done at my desk with a pen on a piece of paper making passes on a line I drew on the paper, you would never need to re-align or reposition the jig, just rotate the stock 4 times.

 

[FredP]

In my assumption, you want a leg that is tapered on one end on all four sides, resulting in a smaller footprint...that being said, wouldn't you set up your taper jig, and just keep rotating the 'square' end of the leg and making a pass on your table saw until all sides are tapered? Conceptually done at my desk with a pen on a piece of paper making passes on a line I drew on the paper, you would never need to re-align or reposition the jig, just rotate the stock 4 times.

pretty much but the fourth side will need support because of the first cut. that's why I use a centering hole and a screw. my jig has a hold down for the square end.

 

[DavidF]

In my assumption, you want a leg that is tapered on one end on all four sides, resulting in a smaller footprint...that being said, wouldn't you set up your taper jig, and just keep rotating the 'square' end of the leg and making a pass on your table saw until all sides are tapered? Conceptually done at my desk with a pen on a piece of paper making passes on a line I drew on the paper, you would never need to re-align or reposition the jig, just rotate the stock 4 times.

Nope - because the once a tapered edge is against the fence of the tapering jig it is further away from the blade, so you have to move that end over by the amount previously cut off.

I used a sled in my planer and was very please how easy it was. If you are not going to see the mark caused by a central pivot in the top and bottom of the leg then you can just rotate the leg without changing anything other than the depth of cut. If you can't do that, then like in my case, I needed to make a small wedge to put under the end of the leg to taper the 3rd and 4th sides

I still have the jig if you want it.

I originally had to use this method because the largest dim of the leg was 4", so bigger than the maximum depth of cut on my tablesaw or I might have done it in the traditional way on the saw, in the end I liked this method anyway and no burn marks or saw marks to plane off!!

 

[PeteM]

Here's how to do it using the jointer:

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/Ezine/Articles/Making_Tapered_Legs_on_a_Jointer_4173.aspx

pete

 

[Trog777]

I used a tapering jig to make the first two cuts, then doubled the taper for their opposites.

 

[Hank Knight]

I cut 4-way tapers with a bandsaw and a hand plane. Mark the taper, cut near the line with the bandsaw and plane to the lines with a sharp handplane (I use a low angle jack). You'll have to re-mark the taper lines on the new face after each cut on the bandsaw. To facilitate this, I mark the dimensions of the small end on the bottom end grain with 4 intersecting lines - think tic-tac-toe. after each cut it's easy to re-mark the taper using the tic-tac-toe lines as a reference. Thin shavings with a sharp hand plane gives you lots of control as you approach the taper lines. Even if you overshoot a little, small variations in the dimensions of the finished leg are not noticeable.

Hank

 

[DavidF]

I cut 4-way tapers with a bandsaw and a hand plane. Mark the taper, cut near the line with the bandsaw and plane to the lines with a sharp handplane (I use a low angle jack). You'll have to re-mark the taper lines on the new face after each cut on the bandsaw. To facilitate this, I mark the dimensions of the small end on the bottom end grain with 4 intersecting lines - think tic-tac-toe. after each cut it's easy to re-mark the taper using the tic-tac-toe lines as a reference. Thin shavings with a sharp hand plane gives you lots of control as you approach the taper lines. Even if you overshoot a little, small variations in the dimensions of the finished leg are not noticeable.

Hank

Yep, done this too, many times, especially on smaller legs or of course on tapered curved legs

 

[adowden]

There are three main ways that I am aware of:

1) A planer sled system like David described and showed.

2) Using a taper jig for the table saw or bandsaw.

3) Using a jointer like Glen Huey does. He has some great info about this. It looks pretty straightforward, but I have never done this. I have seen a video of this on the web, but can't find it.

Here are some good links:

http://www.jeffgreefwoodworking.com/pnc/nesttables/index2.html

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/Ezine/Articles/Making_Tapered_Legs_on_a_Jointer_4173.aspx

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Tapered_Legs_On_A_Planer/

http://theinquisitivewoodworker.com/wordpress/tapering-jig/


I had to make a four way primary and seconday taper on the legs for my buffet. I chose to make a custom taper jig out of mdf that would cradle the leg. I made one for the first and second cuts, and one for the third and fourth cuts. I also made a third one for the secondary tapers. I used it on the bandsaw because I felt safer. After bandsawing, I hand planed the legs smooth.

Amy

 

[Joe Scharle]

I use a miter track tapering jig. Mark a square on the foot; extend the lines to the edge. Mark a line all around the top end where the taper ends. Set the 2 lines to the edge of the taper jig. Run it through the TS. Set the other 3 legs in the jig and cut. Rotate the marked leg. Set the jig fence to align the 2 marks. Saw away. Repeat. The only compensation I have to make for the resulting tapers is re-adjusting the hold downs. BTW, a miter track jig is by default a ZCI cutoff.

 

[merrill77]

I built the taper sled from ShopNotes. There is a little info and a pic of mine on my site:
http://christophermerrill.net/ww/shop/taperSled.html

You can't see it, but there is a little pin that protrudes from the rear support (nearest) that allows you to taper all four sides without changing the jig alignment. It worked very well for me.

Chris

 

[4yanks]

I cut 4-way tapers with a bandsaw and a hand plane. Mark the taper, cut near the line with the bandsaw and plane to the lines with a sharp handplane (I use a low angle jack). You'll have to re-mark the taper lines on the new face after each cut on the bandsaw. To facilitate this, I mark the dimensions of the small end on the bottom end grain with 4 intersecting lines - think tic-tac-toe. after each cut it's easy to re-mark the taper using the tic-tac-toe lines as a reference. Thin shavings with a sharp hand plane gives you lots of control as you approach the taper lines. Even if you overshoot a little, small variations in the dimensions of the finished leg are not noticeable.

Hank

Same here.