Pyramid Toppers

[Teresa Jones]

Hey guys,

I need to know how to go about making a pyramid top piece for my headboard legs. You know, like you see in Arts & Crafts style furniture.

The "blank" will be 4 1/2 inches square and 1 3/4 thick.

I was thinking the best approach would be to tilt the bandsaw table and cut all four sides of the square. How do I figure what angle to set the table?

Thanks,

TJ

[Dan Stuewe]

I can't really help with the technique of cutting the pyramid, but I can help with the angle...

First off you need to determine how tall you want the pyramid to be (call that "h"). Then the angle from the base of the pyramid to the angled side of the pyramid will be arctan(h/2.25"). Did I mention trig was involved?

For example, if the pyramid is going to be as tall as your blank is thick than...

arctan(1.75/2.25) = 37.87 deg

Now that isn't necessarily what you want to set your bandsaw table to (I don't have one, and I don't know what the tilting convention is for them either). If you measure from the table to the blade, you'd want to measure

90 deg - 37.87 deg = 52.13 deg

If you'd like a nice round number for the angle, you can have a 1.3" tall pyramid if you set the table to 60 deg.

arctan(1.3/2.25) = 30 deg
90 deg - 30 deg = 60 deg

If you'd like the square base to be the same height as the pyramid...

arctan(0.875/2.25) = 21.15 deg
90 deg - 21.25 deg = 68.75 deg

Note, your fence setting will be different for all of these to get the 1.75" height. I'd try a few different settings with scraps to get a proportion that is pleasing to you.

I hope this helps.

[Jim Becker]

I would make a jig to follow the table saw fence and put a screw through the jig into the exact center of the square so you can rotate it for each cut. Tilt the blade to the right angle, make the cut (end-grain sides first), lift the jig off the saw and rotate the blank for the next cut. Repeat as needed. For left-tilt saws, the fence stays in the normal position. For right-tilt saws, you need to move it to the other side of the blade so that your off-cut is outside the cut line.

This method keeps your hands completly off the workpiece and also holds it absolutely steady through the cut because the fence stablizes things. Make the part that rides along the fence much longer than the workpiece, too...like a foot minimum.

[Steve Jenkins]

I used a similar method to what Jim described usi8ng the table saw except I cut them 4 at a time.
I screwed them to a board butted up to each other and put two screws in each. After making the first cut I removed them rotated and screwed them back on . I left about 1/2" of flat before the taper started.

[Teresa Jones]

Dan, Jim, and Steve,

I followed your advice and now I have two pyramids to place on the top of my bedposts!

I went with Dan's suggestion of using the 30 degree angle for simplicity and then I used Jim and Steve's suggestions for the cutting approach.

Bravo, gentlemen!!

Pictures of the finished headboard to arrive soon, I hope!!!

TJ