Looking for a truely simple leg tapering jig

[Michael Yadfar]

I'm building a coffee table with 18" legs, and I'm only doing a slight taper on the bottom 6-9 inches of the legs. When looking up homemade tapering jigs, they all say "quick and simple", yet they're somewhat complicated. Can't I just get a rectangular piece of plywood, say 6"x21", position the leg where I want it, then screw in strips of wood along the top, side, and bottom to hold it, then run it along the fence?

[Mike Gresham]

Can't I just get a rectangular piece of plywood, say 6"x21", position the leg where I want it, then screw in strips of wood along the top, side, and bottom to hold it, then run it along the fence?


I don't see why not. That's what I did and it worked.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Lay a strip of hardwood in your miter slot, and staple or screw a sheet of scrap plywood or mdf to it, then run it through the blade to trim it.
Lay your leg on the sled where you want to cut it, and staple or screw two blocks to hold it in place.
If your tapering all 4 sides, you'll need to use a block to support the tapered end after the first two cuts.

[Cody Colston]

Can't I just get a rectangular piece of plywood, say 6"x21", position the leg where I want it, then screw in strips of wood along the top, side, and bottom to hold it, then run it along the fence?

Yes, you can, and that's exactly how I taper stock. I threw away my "Norm Style" tapering jig years ago and now use task-specific jigs just like you described, made from scrap and relegated to the burn pile when I'm done with them.

[Jamie Buxton]

For truly simple, I don't own a tapering jig. I taper with the bandsaw and the jointer. Saw close to the line with the saw, and clean up with the jointer. Easy, quick, and no jig hanging around the shop eating air space.

[Mike Cutler]

For truly simple, I don't own a tapering jig. I taper with the bandsaw and the jointer. Saw close to the line with the saw, and clean up with the jointer. Easy, quick, and no jig hanging around the shop eating air space.


About the quickest way I know of too.;)

[Prashun Patel]

You could also notch out a piece of plywood so there's a heel to push the piece along. This will make it quicker and more accurate to line up each piece and won't require any screws. The heel has to be tall enough to hold the foot when you taper other sides of the same leg.

[Mike Wilkins]

I like simple also; own a band saw? Mark your taper with pencil and straightedge, cut on the band saw, then clean up with a handplane if you don't own a jointer.

[Eric Schatz]

This is what i've used to do all of my tables. It works well and took all of a couple minutes to put together. I've probably done 8 tables this way. http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop/video/a-simple-tapering-jig.aspx

[Michael Yadfar]

I was thinking bandsaw myself, and I have both a bandsaw and a jointer. I just never knew there was a legitimate way to do it on the BS, there was nothing on the web

[Bill Adamsen]

Depending on a number of factors (size of material, sise of taper) I would either use the bandsaw and jointer or handplane to cleanup, or might use the sliding tablesaw and then clean up (jointer, plane, scraper) accordingly, or if very long add slight, I might just use a handplane.

I saw this interesting approach on a FWW video some time back and thought it very interesting. I don't typically think of removing the amount of material he does in one pass ... but it is certainly an effective and easy technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZTXvsrzbSQ

[Prashun Patel]

I prefer to taper on the bandsaw and jointer (or better, handplane). It's easier to flatten the taper on the jointer if you have a long surface to flatten. I wouldn't do it on < 9" taper. YMMV. Even on longer jointings it still skeeves me out a little. That's why I really like hand jointing now. Those tapers rarely need to be perfect unless your joinery falls in that space. In that case, I'm more prone to jig up.

[paul cottingham]

Hanplane or even a spokeshave. Slow, but accurate, and safe. When my patience is thin, i have tapered on a bandsaw, abd cleaned up with a spokeshave.

[Bill Ryall]

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm116/ryallworks/1891110_658836687548831_9043435658794097686_n.jpg

Stanley #4 1/2. I can taper the dozen legs pictured in about the same amount of time it takes to just set up a jig on the table saw or band saw.

[Martin Wasner]

I rough them out with the bandsaw and touch them up on the edge sander.

Dude who works for me bangs them to size on the jointer. Freaks me out though.