Replies

1. 
   Rob_Sp | Feb 20, 2024 05:21pm | #1

   That looks like the same jig I use. I usually strike a fine line with a marking knife where the taper breaks. Because the jig rides against the fence you can micro adjust the fence in until you are close as possible to the line when you set up. You can use most any plane to clean it up, start the plane by letting the edge of the blade drop into the scribed line which can be easily felt.1 or 2 passes should clean the saw marks.

1. 
   user-7772128 | Feb 21, 2024 07:30am | #6

   Great idea (thanks!) about final planing and "feeling" for the scribe line with the plane blade. All the legs are fine rift ash, so the only additional subtlety is then skewing the blade after the start with the "lay" of the grain.
   -tonto

2. 
   _mj_ | Feb 20, 2024 06:23pm | #2

   I made tapered octogon legs for a set of chairs recently. I cut them from squares to octogons on the tablesaw and then tapered them against a stop block on the jointer. I made a v-block carrier and ran multiple passes on each surface.

3. 
   joeleonetti | Feb 20, 2024 06:51pm | #3

   The one time I worked with ash, I found that even with a sharp hand plane it was a bit difficult to keep the blade in the cut and seemed to require more effort than I was used to (I've worked a lot with cherry, oak, poplar, walnut, etc so I have a decent amt of experience using hand plans). Only thing I can offer is to try hand planing a shorter piece just to see if my piece of ash was unusual. Having said that, even knowing what I'd know, I'd still likely stay a bit away from the line and use a hand plane to clean it up. At least this time, I'd be mentally preapred to know it might be more difficult.

1. 
   user-7772128 | Feb 21, 2024 07:35am | #7

   Yeah, this is the second time working with ash (Mike's little rabbet and dado cabinet was the first, with 3/16" shiplapped back in ash. Multiple days of joining and planing, bit by bit, but it worked.) I've only used my shoulder plane to clean up the tenons, and it wasn't bad at all. We'll see about the others later.
   -tonto

4. 
   rob_ss | Feb 21, 2024 12:46am | #4

   This is why you should always make 5 legs for every table - then you have a spare.
   With care setting up a tapering jig, you will have no problems getting this spot on right off the table saw. It's essential to make a decent jig, but with that the process is a snip.

1. 
   lat_axe | Feb 21, 2024 03:37am | #5

   Five leg tables! :-) A failsafe is good but .... what do you do with your fifth leg collection?

   I've made many tables with tapered legs using the jointer to make the taper up to knife-scribed lines. The final elimination of the line is always done with a handplane (i.e. for the last 0.25 mm). But I've always done the jointer-tapering freehand as no jig seems needed if the jointing is done carefully. It does help to have the jointer well set-up and the knives sharp, of course.

   Ash can be a rascal when it comes to tear-out. It's very fibrous and sometimes those fibres will tear out at length from just a teeny area of raised grain. My jointer knives have quite a steep angle of bite set on them (as a micro-bevel) and I always use a 60 degree bevel-up hand plane set to a very fine cut with ash. It does make a difference.

   Sometimes the jigging thing seems rather overdone. In some cases (including leg tapering on a jointer) its perhaps better to acquire the skill to set up the machine well and to perform the jointing carefully. Jigging over-much can sometimes inhibit the acquisition of such skills, as the jig makes them redundant .... although you have to get skilled at jig making instead. :-)

   Lataxe

5. 
   user-6193229 | Apr 09, 2024 07:43pm | #8

   Something like this can be cleaned up nicely with a bench scraper. You have less chance of tare out.