Replies

1. 
   user-148830 | Oct 24, 2007 06:02am | #1

   Perhaps I don't understand this correctly, but it seems to me that this is band saw work cutting out of solid stock. Perhaps you could do some of this on a shaper. You just have to maintain your angles throughout the cut. Leaving a horn on the top end of the leg while you cut out the flare at the bottom would give you support for the opposite face cut. It would keep your face cut consistent and square to the other faces.

   So start the band saw cut 1/2" in from the top of the leg, make the cut down to the flare and then make the flare cut. You can then flip the leg over and make the opposing face cut straight through, no horn required. Flip back and with a hand plane or chisel take off the horn. I hope this helps. Gary

1. 
   rprobert | Oct 25, 2007 03:28am | #2

   Thank you for your response. I think your suggestion would work if the legs flared out straight from one of the flat planes. But the leg, which is square, flares out in the last three or four inches at a 45 degree angle from one of the corners of the leg. I am not sure how best to describe this, but, to exaggerate, it looks as if you put too much weight on a small table and the legs buckled at each "ankle', the bending occuring not to the front or the back or the side, but going out 45 degrees from each corner. What this means for cutting the piece is that I think you have to follow each flat plane through an arch which curves out at an angle. The flat portion of each side of the square changes its plane.  My apologies - this is hard to describe. However, many thanks for your prompt attention.

1. 
   saschafer | Oct 25, 2007 06:08am | #3

   I think I understand what you're saying. It's as if the leg were fabricated as a straight leg, square in cross section, and then steam-bent outward along a diagonal, right?

   It's possible that it was made that way; it's hard to know without a close examination of the grain. Otherwise, it's like Gary said, a bandsaw exercise (albeit an especially tricky one).

   -Steve

    

1. 
   rprobert | Oct 25, 2007 04:41pm | #4

   That is exactly right. It looks to me like it would be too short to steam bend, but that might be the easiest technique. Cut it longer and bend it. Otherwise, I am a little perplexed on how to make the cut

2. 
   user-148830 | Oct 30, 2007 07:14pm | #5

   Hi,
   I think I have this now.
   The hard line, the corner of the leg goes out at a diagonal because of the shaping of the leg. If the leg starts out at 2 1/2" square and then flares out to 2 3/4" in all four directions that corner line, there at the corner of the leg, will flare out in the shape you put there. So if you curve the leg out with a band saw cut then you'll see a hard line run down the corner of the leg and then out at 45 degrees in a nice arc. Undercut the bottom of the foot and it will really pop out this shape.Nothing magical about this. Just shape out from the smaller leg dimensions to the larger leg dimensions in all four directions and you'll see the line flare out while still on the corner. Band saw, rasp and file work. Good luck with this. Gary

2. 
   saschafer | Nov 04, 2007 07:19pm | #6

   I finally got an opportunity to look at the photograph in that book. It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, since it appears that the bottoms of the legs have suffered some damage (water damage, maybe?), but they do look sawn/carved rather than bent. It also looks like the square cross section is only approximately maintained, which suggests that they were cut, possibly using some templates, and then smoothed until they "looked right."

   -Steve