Another Cabriole leg question.

[Doug Whitson]

Hi All, First of all, yes, I did a search on cabriole legs but didn't really get a definitive answer. SWMBO has asked for a coffee table and matching end tables with cabriole legs. I've downloaded a wood article, read it and tried it on scrap wood. It came out reasonably well but I didn't like the proportions. I can't seem to get my head around how to dimention the size of the knee or how far down to make the back cut. I've looked high and low for some type of formula. I can't seem to make the golden rule work and I can't even spell fabrinochi. I'm willing to buy a book or what ever to be able to get these right. Thanks for your time and any advice you may have.
Later,
Doug in AZ.

[Nancy Laird]

Doug, the current issue (May/June) of Fine Woodworking has a very detailed article on making cabriole legs as part of a tea table project. It should be on the newsstands now.

Nancy

[Phil Clark]

Have you searched Lonnie Bird - he is afrequent author in FWW and his bboks are part of the Taunton Press series. I can't recall the issue of FWW (I'm on the road for aweek) but think it is #144 where proportions for a cabriole leg are discussed.

[Dave Anderson NH]

There are plenty of sources for cabriole leg designs readily available in books and magazine articles. There have been several articles (with plans) in FWW in the last 4 years which you can search for and of course there is the article by Dan Faia in the new issue which just came out a couple of days ago. Books by Frank Gottshall are a great source as are some of the Taunton Press books.