Any ideas on how to make these trestle table legs?

[Michael Heffernan]

I'm planning to make a Rectory farmhouse trestle table, about 12' long. I've been looking at styles for the trestle base and like the look of these beefy pedestal legs. Not sure how to go about making them. I thought maybe to attempt to cut the profile on say 2" thick stock and then miter cut 4 pieces for each leg and wrap them around a core post. I'm thinking of 6" to 8" square in size. It won't be as rustic as this image; most likely in oak or mahogany.
Anyone know how to fabricate this style leg?

[Richard Coers]

That leg looks to be bandsawed on 4 sides. You bandsaw the profile on one side, then tape the waste back on. Repeat on all 4 sides. It's going to be tough on a small bandsaw as some of those details will require a lot of rotation of the stock.

[Michael Heffernan]

Richard, thought about cutting them on the bandsaw. I have a G0514X2 19" saw, so it can be done. I'm just concerned with closely matching the profile on all 4 sides. I can do it and shape the sides, but I'm hoping that there is an easier way. Just can't wrap my head around it.

[Jamie Buxton]

A factory probably makes the legs by attacking a single big piece of wood with a very big bandsaw. I like your version better: four pieces of 2" stock mitered together. Cutting the profile would be much more maneagable. I'd make an outrigger thing to fasten the stock to while I'm bandsawing it. The outrigger would keep the stock vertical. You'll also need a jig to hold each bandsawn plank when you cut the miter on the table saw; you won't have a straight edge to put against the fence.

[Peter Quinn]

I'm thinking you make a blank by face gluing 3 pieces of 8/4 or a sandwich of 2 pieces of 8/4 and a piece of 10/4 in the middle. Then it's a series of dado and miter cuts to form the moldings, possibly a Ras can help if your has the capacity. A router may also help with a long spiral bit. Then the long cymia recta that forms the bulk of the leg can be cut on the BS and tuned by hand. Don't worry about taping the waste back on, make the blank long and leave your self 2" of waste that remains square to cut off later, or just hot glue on blocks to the ends to maintain square throughout the operation, then knock them off later. An accurate profile template will help simplify things, and it should have the steps you've worked out in order numbered or labeled clearly.

I have a veneer book with a similar pedestal, less elaborate moldings, it is a four sided miter of poplar. Each facit consists of 3 or 4 pieces of 8/4, the profile gets cut on each, then they are edge glued with dowels for allignment , then mitered, miters get glued up, veneer is applied with the iron on method or hammer veneer, more complicated moldings get mitered around the girth of the base. Might even work with BB plywood sandwiches. Another approach I've seen is to break the leg into shorter sub sections, each tenons into the next, a hole down the center allows a threade rod to keep things together firmly.

[Jim Foster]

No idea if this is an appropriate method, but...

1)Make a base square post
2) Make a series different trim pieces that can be used to make the desired profile.
3) Apply the trim to a long board
3) Cut the board with trim into 45 degree mitered pieces.
3) Apply the mitered sections to the base post.

You'll have no end grain and will not have to try and do cleanup on a complex bandsawn piece.

[Michael Heffernan]

Peter, thanks for the ideas. Went to bed last night thinking almost the same thing. I think I'll glue up two 8 x 8 x 32" blanks, then cut the top and bottom square profiles on my table saw with a sled and cut the curve middle with the bandsaw. (cymia recta! learned a new term today, thanks).
I also thought about building it in slices and then sandwiching them together, but I'd prefer to have it all one piece.

[Dave Richards]

If that's a factory made table, I'll bet its done on a CNC machine not a bandsaw.

Unless you want vertical seam lines I would go with what you first thought and make four pieces joined together with mitered corners. You could create a pattern to use at the bandsaw although the only part that looks like you'd need the bandsaw for is the vase shape in the middle. All the other parts of the profile appear to be straight bevel cuts. I could see a template guided plunge router for cutting most of that. The plunge would be limited by the template. You could hog out most of the waste with a dado stack on the table saw. With eight pieces to cut, it'll just be a production run set up.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8482392692_1cd4db9924.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8294157@N08/8482392692/)

[Mike Cutler]

. Another approach I've seen is to break the leg into shorter sub sections, each tenons into the next, a hole down the center allows a threade rod to keep things together firmly.

That's exactly what I found when I fixed something like this for a friend, it was the top piece of a porch column, though.
It was multiple layers that were aligned with a wooden dowel that ran the length. The dowel also indexed it to the header and column. I don't remember any lag screws, or threaded rod, but I was also being pretty careful to not damage it any more than it was, so I may not have seen them.
Even still, it didn't look easy to build from the beginning. I just had to repair the very bottom section.
To do that cymia recta section, cool term Peter :cool:r, I would look at how a Queen Anne leg is done on the bandsaw.

[david brum]

I made a similarly complex pedestal table leg a few years back. I used Peter's idea of stacking individual parts to make the leg(s). I turned the individual components, then glued and bolted everything together with a long piece of 3/8" threaded rod. It's not difficult, and you can replace the components if you mess up as you're making them.

In your case, you'd make the parts on the router table instead of a lathe, but the idea is the same.

[Jamie Buxton]

If that's a factory made table, I'll bet its done on a CNC machine not a bandsaw...

I was thinking the original was made in a third-world country on a big bandsaw with no guards -- scary stuff I wouldn't do myself.

[Mark Wooden]

It looks like all the details are angular, with no curves. If I were doing the legs one piece, I’d glue up a blank at the largest diameter, bandsaw out the curved sides and then cut the rest on a table saw with a sliding jig. Use two square blocks screwed to the top and bottom to keep the center axis parallel to the table, dado the grooves, tilt the blade to make the angled cuts, etc. Could do it a little easer with a radial arm saw, but still, a lot of work. I’d more likely run the details on a shaper and put them on as applied molding.

[Sam Murdoch]

OR :) Start with a square post - solid or glued up (glued up would be more stable) and apply moldings around it to the desired level of detail (kind of what Jim Foster suggested). Use store bought moldings and just create the look you prefer with stacking them. The bigger section could be a big crown molding. The base could be a bandsawn piece. Just go buy some 1' cutoffs of different moldings to play with your design.

Dave Richards comes through with some nice drawings again. Very generous use of your time Dave.

[Michael Heffernan]

Thanks for all the ideas and advice. All the techniques described here are good approaches. I'll have to decide which one I go with.

[Paul Saffold]

It seems to me that using a bandsaw will produce surfaces that will require a wicked amount of sanding and therefore great potential for profiles that do not match. Or maybe that is just an indication of my poor bandsaw teckneeeeek.

[Brian Tymchak]

For me it would boil down to the desired finish. If you are wanting a natural wood finish, to get consistent grain figure, direction, and wood color, I would suggest going with a blank laminated up from the same board, either solid or a box. If you are going to paint or heavily stain, then you can get away with the buildup from moldings since grain and color won't be much of an issue.