Which plane do I need.

[C Scott McDonald]

Hey folks,

So I have to ask a bit of a basic question. I am learning to make cabriolet legs for a highboy. Currently just practicing with glued up popular. Anyway I need to know which plane to get to smooth the sides from the bandsaw marks. Do I need a block plane or a small bench plane, high angle low angle?? The plan is to make the highboy out of curly maple. I got a Vertais spokeshave and cleans off the saw marks fast put i cannot get a flat surface from it. It might not be used for that purpose I dont know. Like I am say I am just learning hand tools.

Any help would be great. I have been an avid woodworker for a long time but never really used a tool unless it had a cord.

Thanks,
Scott

[David Tiell]

If you are talking about the legs, then I would think a good spokeshave with either a round bottom or a concave spokeshave. Both Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen make concave ones, but used ones can be found cheaper. However, I must post a disclaimer. I've never used one or made a cabriole leg, so take what I say for exactly what it is, which is my opinion only.

Dave

[Johnny Kleso]

If your making cabinets I would say you need to buy a No5 Jack or go bigger with a No6 Trying plane

The 5 1/2 is David Charlesworth's favorite and one of mine as well..

I dont believe in block planes being used as smoother..

I think if you buy a old Stanley you be off to a good start but beware you also need sharpening supplies as well...

[Brian Kent]

I love using these little "contour planes" as Lee Valley calls them. They are tiny rosewood spokeshaves, small enough for concave surfaces. Easy to hone. Beautiful little babies that can be polished up to be silky smooth rosewood tools. All for $24.50 for two. I love 'em and recommend them.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46321&cat=1,41182,46334

[David DeCristoforo]

Well, you are taking on a pretty challenging project. Smoothing out these legs is the "hard part", the initial cutting out being the "easy part". Planes are not really used for this and spokeshaves are not the easiest tools to master. I realize that this is the "neander" world but you did say you were using a bandsaw for the cutout and that's not exactly a "hand tool". So I'm going to take a risk here and suggest a small sanding drum or an inflatable contour sander (both of which can be driven by a handheld drill). In truth, this is how the majority of woodworkers handle these legs. If you are committed to doing the smoothing "by hand" I don't see any reason to exclude files and rasps. As you get better with the spokeshave, you may come to rely on it more.

YM

[Alan Turner]

Cabriole legs are among my favorites. Smoothing them is not difficult. If you are talking about the curved portions, then rasps and files are excellent. I use a radius bottom Boggs spokeshave from LN. It has a very tight mouth and so takes only very fine shavings. If you get some chatter marks, skew the spokeshave to ride the tops of the chatter marks and they will disappear quickly. Note that the radius is too large for the ankle curve; here you will be limited to rasps and files. With a light hand, rasps leave a better surface than one might expect. Use a cabinet scraper and sandpaper to finish.

If your question relates to the corner posts, then planes are appropriate. If your corner posts are, say, 1-1/2" square, then take two blocks of wood at the same thickness, and clamp all three together (leg in center), like a sandwich, to your bench top and work across the grain, using a shoulder plane at the knee, and the two outside blocks as sort of stops/height gages, like plaster stops. A no. 4 will do fine; larger is not an advantage.

I don't favor a spindle sander for this work as it is too easy to get dips in the curved portions of the leg, and these ruin the look quickly.

These legs are not as difficult to make as they look at first. However, the design of one is another matter. There are many different styles, from the rather thin, straight looking ones from Boston, to the thicker and more curvaceous ones from Philadelphia, to the "just right" ones out of Newport. As you can see, I have an opinion here.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Scott,

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but I would suggest rethinking using curly maple for your first set of cabriole legs. With care you can do it, but the constantly reversing grain will cause you a lot of aggravation if you've never made cabrioles before. When I built my Queen Anne handkerchief table last year out of tiger maple the legs took me 4 times as long as similar ones I've made out of mahogany and cherry.

Alan is right though, rasps are your friend when it comes to cabriole legs. Spokeshaves work well too, but with curly maple you better be taking extremely light cuts or you will get tearout. When using a scraper on curly maple you will need to skew the scraper at about a 30-45 degree angle. If you don't, the reversing grain will end up giving you a washboard effect. Remember that the lines of curl are end grain.

[David Turner]

It helps tremendiously to wet the curl with water or turps before plane and scraper work

[C Scott McDonald]

Thanks for the information guys. I thinkk I might switch to a different wood for the first try.

Thanks again.

[Thom Sturgill]

If you are just starting out with hand tools, you may not have worked with rasps and may not have good ones. My prior experience was with the 4-in-hand variety and they leave a very rough surface. Get a good rasp (preferably hand cut) where the teeth are not all in a nice orderly line. You will be surprised at the difference a good rasp makes.