Making a leg vise chop with unique curved transition

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I did not want just a flat curve- I wanted it to transition into an arch on the face. Why? Aesthetics. It looks less chunky. I marked the arch, then marked the sloped transition on the sides. Next I marked 5 degree angle marks and brought them down the sides with a square. Next I sawed to the lines. This made a reference for the transition. I chamfered the edge at 45 degrees using the Veritas rabbet plane and adjustable fence. That thing makes quick work of that task. I chopped away the waste and then started smoothing. Still doing some smoothing, but I am very happy with the transition. I love it when a plan comes together.

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[Malcolm Schweizer]

...pics continued:

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[Don Orr]

Classy ! Nicely done.

[David Eisenhauer]

Nice, nice, nice Malcolm. What are the specs on that rasp I see in the second photo? I need a decent one and am debating with myself on which level of coarseness I want. One reads that a #9 or #10 is a good starting point so I guess that is where I will go as well.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Nice, nice, nice Malcolm. What are the specs on that rasp I see in the second photo? I need a decent one and am debating with myself on which level of coarseness I want. One reads that a #9 or #10 is a good starting point so I guess that is where I will go as well.

Thanks David- much appreciated. As for the rasp, it is a Grammercy 5" long, 25 TPI. It works amazing for stuff like this, but I do need a longer rasp. This one cuts very fast for a fine rasp. I have somehow lost my longer Auriou rasp during the move a few years ago.

Link: https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/GT-CMRASP.XX

[Hasin Haroon]

That's awesome Malcolm, can't wait to see the finished product. I plan on building a bench soon (it was this summer, now it's fall, likely going to be in the winter) and am playing with ideas for a leg chop shape right now.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

That's awesome Malcolm, can't wait to see the finished product. I plan on building a bench soon (it was this summer, now it's fall, likely going to be in the winter) and am playing with ideas for a leg chop shape right now.

Don't feel bad- mine is taking me over a year to build due to restoring an old home, and raising a young child! Feel free to borrow my idea- that's why I shared it.

[Eric R. Smith]

Malcolm, That chop is looking Great. I am at the point in my bench where I need to decide the design of the chop and your design is very enticing. I believe I will be using it in my Hickory chop. Thanks for sharing.
Eric S.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm, That chop is looking Great. I am at the point in my bench where I need to decide the design of the chop and your design is very enticing. I believe I will be using it in my Hickory chop. Thanks for sharing.
Eric S.

Thanks- I actually sat on this a while because I wasn't sure about the geometry and how it would end up looking. I finally decided to trust my math and my vision and, like Nike, I "just did it." That first saw cut was painful becuase I knew that was the no-turning-back point. On the bottom of the leg of this chop there is going to be a chamfer that terminates into an ogee. I'm not sure how else to explain it, but I will post an update once I do it.

Please note that this may be more difficult in hickory. you might benefit from doing more saw kerfs- every 2.5 degree instead of every 5. This mahogany likes to tear out, but it works well with a chisel. I would imagine hickory is going to be more difficult, especially with the difference in hardness between the annular rings.

Also a note- I sawed right up to the line on the top and side of the chop, and in hindsight I maybe should have just barely missed the line by a hair. As it was, the saw kerfs didn't come out until I shaved right up to the line, and in one case where I went over by the tiniest bit, I had to reshape that curve to make it all match up and get rid of the saw kerf. So in short- BE VERY CAREFUL WITH YOUR SAW KERFS!!! They are the key to whether or not this works.

[Chet R Parks]

Vary imaginative, great way to dress up a rather mundane tool.
Chet

[Paul K. Johnson]

Looks cool. I was going to ask why you went to the trouble of all that marking with a protractor instead of just drawing the arc with a compass but I thought you were going to round over the end. I didn't understand what you meant by "transition" until I saw the photos.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

After scraping. I can't wait to see this once finish is applied. The grain really looks nice. I am doin an abalone inlay of my Cross of St. James logo with "2017" in white and gold Mother of Pearl. This has always been my signature to do inlays and to inlay my logo somewhere, so don't think for a second that this is not a user bench. It's actually already getting used and has a few battle scars already. I just wanted to do at least one inlay on my bench.

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[Malcolm Schweizer]

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Next I am working on the lower leg transition from an ogee to a bevel.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

And finally the bottom transition to a round with faceted bevel.

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[James Pallas]

Once complete that will raise your spirits when you arrive at your shop.
Jim

[David Eisenhauer]

That is outstanding Malcolm. Someone asked me why I put my modest shape (nothing like yours unfortunately) on my leg vise chop and I could not really understand why the question was even asked. I could only reply "needs to have some style" or something to that effect.

[James Waldron]

That is outstanding Malcolm. Someone asked me why I put my modest shape (nothing like yours unfortunately) on my leg vise chop and I could not really understand why the question was even asked. I could only reply "needs to have some style" or something to that effect.

I prototype most shop furniture in syp and sometimes it takes quite a while to get around to "the real thing." There's nothing wrong with syp but when it's fancied up it can provoke some really interesting comments and questions.