How do I layout the profile of a tapered leg onto the wood to be cut?

[Minh Tran]

Hi,

I'm attempting to recreate this (http://itzfurniture.com/en/product/mesa-ban/) table and would like advice on how to lay out the legs onto stock to be cut so as to:



Minimize the amount of stock used
Reduce the complexity of the cut


I modeled the legs in sketchup and used component positioning tools to orient two legs so as to fit them into a bounding box, keeping in mind the orientation of the grain:

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This layout doesn't align the 90° angle of each tenon to the 90° angle of a board so milling a leg to shape becomes more complicated. However, it would position the direction of grain along the length of the leg so as to maximize strength. Additionally, it minimizes waste produced in the cuts.

I wanted your take on this method.

[David Eisenhauer]

Angling the legs to coincide with the run of the grain not only helps strength-wise but it is visually more pleasing. The method you chose to lay out the legs is the one I would use. It is not always desired or advantageous to lay out for minimal wood use only.

[Wayne Lomman]

Looks a good way to me. Cheers

[Jim Becker]

I had to lay out the legs for that LP record stand commission I completed a few months ago similar to what you show in your sketch. Since I have a slider, I was able to do the long cut through careful alignment with the cut line and clamping the material down. It could also be done using the bandsaw as long as you left enough material to joint or hand plane the cut line flat and smooth. The cuts for the angles on the ends come next and either a sled or a good miter system will do that consistently across all workpieces. I used the miter fence on my slider for this operation. The last part is the secondary bevel, which I cut free-hand on the band-saw and then smoothed using hand planes.

[Jerry Miner]

To me, it would seem simpler to cut the ends square, cut the taper through the center, and then cut the tops of the legs parallel to the "outer" edge, rather than trying to get square to the tapered cut.


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