"The Leg" - First in a Series...

[John Keeton]

A few days ago, I posted a thread seeking advice on the leg design for my next table project. After some helpful comments, this was the final template.
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Got the stock milled for the leg blanks, and proceeded to make a mess trying to get the pommel cut right. Fortunately, I was able to flip the leg blank end for end, and save it. Wanting to get on with this project and see if I could actually turn a decent leg, I opted to make saw cuts for the pommels and leave the learning process for a cold winter evening.
With great apprehension, yesterday I turned the upper spooled portion, and rounded out the lower portion. Tonite, I turned the lower portion, sanded, and with drawknife, spokeshave, and a small covey of my planes, I tapered the faceted portion of the leg.

And, here is what we have!
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Fairly pleased with it - by no means is it perfect, but I think it will look OK. Now, can I complete the series???:confused: Getting three more to look the same seems like a daunting task, but I did learn quite a bit doing this one - mostly some "don't do that" moments!;)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very, very, very nicely done John!

Now you will find yourself holding your breath more often......kinda like when you have that arrow fully drawn....on the bull elk breathing out fog in that crisp moutain air!

Again....very nicely done!

[Steve Schlumpf]

John - congrats on a job well done! Looks pretty close to the template! Only area that I see different is the cove area on the top section. That doesn't really matter as long as you match the turned piece - all will be well!

You seem to take to this turning stuff quite well! Pretty impressive considering how long you been turning! Keep up the good work!

[John Keeton]

Thanks, guys!

Steve, there is a "skating" story behind the cove area at the top;) You can guess the rest of that one!

It was just one of those "don't do that" moments:o

[Bernie Weishapl]

John I am impressed for no longer than you have been turning. That is a good looking leg. Well done.

[Richard Madison]

Very nice leg John! You certainly did not choose an easy one to start with. Good luck with the remaining legs.

[David Christopher]

great job John

[gary Zimmel]

Looks like you are really getting this round world down pat.
From this newbie it looks fine to me...
You may have to come to Canada and give me a couple lessons.
One down and a few to go!

[Paul Atkins]

Nice job. I like the 'new' cove better than the planned one. Haven't gotten back to you on the 90 degree pommel - they are hard to get right. I was going to set up the camera and practice a few today, but had to make some sawdust for a job. Usually I start like the angled ones and keep cutting back until it seems like a parting too will get in there without getting the corners. Designing a straight pommel right next to a bead is a hard one to do easily. I usually make a 1/8" or more flat for tool access. One thing I do sometime is to rough out and turn the hard parts on all pieces so I know they all match. Any "impromptu redesigns" can then be done to all parts. Then I turn the rest of the profile on all parts. Then I sand them. This is made very easy by the drive centers and live centers I use. I can mount and dismount some pieces without turning off the lathe - and they are dead centered. Keep up the good work.

[John Keeton]

Paul and Richard, not knowing a lot (actually not anything!) about turning, I wanted to replicate the design on the antique legs of the hutch/secretary - with the taper. Having done one of the legs, I would have altered the design to avoid just Paul talks about when putting the pommel next to a bead shape. Coming off a "flat" would make this task significantly easier.

Paul, good advice on doing all of the difficult portions of the legs first. I think I will do that. It takes a different mind set when I do the 8 sides of the tapered facets - and a lot of sweat! Doing that one leg took a little over an hour for just that part. The turning went pretty quickly - a little quicker than I wanted a couple of times:eek: Amazing how much wood can come off in a split second!

I look forward to seeing the video on the straight pommel - make sure and post it.

Gary, if I came up and played on that new lathe of yours, I may not want to go back to my little ol' Harbor Freight!!

Bernie and David, thanks for the supportive comments. I do enjoy this turning thing, but at this point, it isn't exactly relaxing - perhaps that comes a little later??:confused:

I have also noticed that I get some soreness in my arms in new places - I guess from holding the tools too firmly. Add to that the elbow issues I get when I use handplanes a lot, and Ibuprofen has become a close friend again!:D Of course, at my age, we see each other a lot anyway!

[Scott Lux]

The best way to get 3 more just like it is to make 5 more. Then pick the best set.

[Derek Gilmer]

The best way to get 3 more just like it is to make 5 more. Then pick the best set.
Sounds like me shooting at the target range. Shoot once, then go draw a bulls eye around it :)

[Sean Hughto]

Ha, I'm making Dunbar's stool from a recent PWW and have adopted just this strategy - only a few more to go to have my choosing set! Then again, if they were exactly the same, the finished piece might lose some hand made charm. Luckily, that won't be a problem for me! ;-)))

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2558/4015251197_2c2d0a5d3a_b.jpg

By the way, great work, John!!

[John Keeton]

Sounds like me shooting at the target range. Shoot once, then go draw a bulls eye around it :)Derek, I kind of like that strategy!! Kind of like archery - all my arrows are in a nice tight group - just 8" from the bull!!!

Sean, Scott may have the answer here and I guess we could use a "Duke's mixture" on our pieces, make all the legs different, and just tell everyone that is what the plan called for! :D I mean, really the only dimensions that HAVE to be the same are the length and the size of the top where the aprons join - right??!!??

BTW, great job on that seat! And, all of the spindles actually look pretty good to me.

[Rob Cunningham]

Good looking leg John. Seems like you have a good handle on this turning stuff.

[Skip Spaulding]

The leg sure looks great, hope we get to see the finished product.

[John Keeton]

...hope we get to see the finished product.I hope so, too!!:) I have a feeling the first one is the easiest!

Thanks for the encouragement, Rob and Skip. Hope to make some progress on the others this weekend.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

Do you have Lacer's DVD "The Skew Chisel - the Dark Side - the Sweet Side"?

[John Keeton]

Ken, I have that one and Son of Skew, compliments of Wilbur Pan. I have watched them a few times, and obviously need to watch them again. I know that he uses the skew to do the pommel, but the proper technique is a lot tougher than it looks.

I have already made saw cuts on all the leg blanks, and will finish these out the best I can. Then I think I just need to square up some scrap and spend a day practicing. It would seem that the best way is with the skew, and I am sure once I find the "sweet spot", it will happen for me.

[Richard Jones]

John,

Nice legs..........table legs, that is.......

I've found that duplication is one of the hardest things to achieve. After turning a thousand or so really small beads for jewelry, I now just turn as best I can, lump them all in a bowl, and then try and match then afterwards. Even with earrings, the width of a human head is a huge help in not being able to tell that they are/aren't an exact match. A large table would present no issues, at least to most eyes. The real enjoyment for me would be to be able to pick out the minor differences and revel in the fact that this is indeed a hand-made piece. Probably no one but you will see any differences with the completed project.

One thing that helped me as far as skew work is to practice on standard framing lumber, #2 SPF. Lots of 1 1/2" x 12-14" long pieces and a sharp skew chisel has gotten me to the point that I'd much rather use a skew than a gouge, if the situation allows. Much cleaner surface, much quicker, at least for me. I still do a warm-up if I've gone for any length of time without using one. Once you have The Epiphany, it's a lot of fun.

As to your weary arms..........I, too, find that if you loosen up your grip, you will be much less fatigued. Hard to do, takes a conscious effort until it becomes routine. Even then, when you get down to The Final Cut, I still find that I am gripping tighter. Problem is that it doesn't help.

We'll leave curved skew/straight skew for another thread......http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

Didn't realize this was so long, sorry.......... Anyway, let us know how it/they turn out.

Rich

[John Keeton]

Thanks Richard! I went thru a few 2x2 pine pieces on my initial practice runs. The real problem here is that I have rushed this process. My total time spent on the lathe prior to doing this leg wasn't much - maybe 3-4 hours total - and, obviously not enough!! Patience is not one of my virtues! Can't count the number of times my mother told me - "haste makes waste." Little did I know in years to come she was talking about my wood supply;)

I had watched the Lacer DVDs before actually using the skew, so I had already ground mine on a radius. Probably should have tried both ways first as I now have nothing to compare to. I think the skew can be a great tool, but it deserves more practice than I have given it.

The second hardest cut (other than the pommel) was the inside cove cut - just wasn't much room to use a small gouge and I was really afraid of getting the skew in that tight space. Seems a specially ground tool would be helpful.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

When the idiots here pushed me into the Vortex, Vaughn McMillan sent me some HF tools. Immediately I had one of the gouges snap on me. It looked like a stress fracture. Anyway....I have reground one of the scrapers and do it as necessary to create special purpose scrapers to use in special situations like your inside cove cut.

Stay with it John! When I turned spindles for that ship's wheel I thought I'd bitten off more than I could handle. That thing had several curved/radiused pommels on each one. The guy sent me 2 extra blanks that he had glued up and milled to size. It's a good thing he did!

[John Keeton]

Well, the legs have all been turned!
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The tops -
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The bottoms -
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No real disasters, and while there are variances in them, the table will be 24" x 36" and I hope the separation will hide the lack of accuracy in the duplication. There is also some color difference in the legs. Although it is all air dried, two of the blanks came from some wood I had in the barn - probably 10 years old. The other two came from the recent load of leg stock I bought and was 30 years old - and, came from a different part of the state so I suspect both the age and the soil affected the color. I think after BLO, shellac, and whatever final finish I end up with - and, a couple of years, the color difference will fade out.

Had a few skating parties while doing these, but upon advice from Steve and Ken, I became a bit more "committed and deliberate" with the skew. I was able to remove the damage in all cases but this one -
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And, then, there were the hidden surprises!! I knew there were some knots and pith, but everything looked solid on the square blanks. I will probably attempt a fill in these, and turn them to the inside of the table.
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All in all, this was a good first turning project for me. I made a lot of mistakes, learned a lot, gained some confidence - and, at least this table will be "my" project. In my past pieces, if round legs were required I purchased them. For me, that always takes away a little of the self satisfaction.

Now, all that is left is about 6 hours with the drawknife, spokeshave, and handplanes to get those tapered facets done!!:D

Thanks to all who commented, and to everyone in the Turners forum - I read and absorbed literally hundreds of your posts on a variety of topics before "crossing over" into the vortex!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very impressive work John! Glad to see you got the legs completed! I agree about the table being totally yours because of the turned legs - get a lot more satisfaction when you are responsible for all the work! You did a good job! Looking forward to seeing the table!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

I am impressed. Turning multiples of anything is IMHO the most difficult type of turning. You have done exceptionally well my friend! Nicely done.

[gary Zimmel]

You've got to love it when a plan comes together...

Job well done John!

[Richard Madison]

Nice job John. That table is going to be "priceless", especially considering the hours you will have in it when finished.