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Robert Bonomi
 
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Default Ideas for kitchen table legs?

In article ,
UTRECHT wrote:
My wife wants a very rustic looking kitchen table. Im using red oak
and Ive already finished the top. Im trying to figure out what kind
of legs to make. I dont have a lathe so they cant be round.
Originally I was going to make a pedestal style table but my wife says
thats too country. She just wants 4 plain legs, but I think that will
look amatuerish. The only thing I can think of is to just use heavy
legs (about 5" square) and slightly taper them. Any other ideas?


5" square is _big_. "typical" tapered square legs are on the order of 1-3/4"
sq at the top, and 3/4"-1" square at the bottom. Usually with some form of
minimal 'ornamentation' in the few inches directly below the skirt.

A very clean, simple, and elegant look can be accomplished by taking a
tapered cut off the inside _corner_ of a medium-large square leg. I dunno
what to call the design, but I've used it on big (42"x96") solid-mahagony DR
tables.

Using 3" sq. stock, I mark the base of the leg, at the middle of each of the
two 'inside' sides; and on the 'inside corner' a few inches (1x to 1-1/2x the
height of the skirt seems to 'look right') _below_ the bottom of the skirt.
Play 'connect the dots', and cut off the triangular piece so defined.

These are readily cut on a table saw -- 45-degree blade angle, plus a simple
taper-jig.

Shaving that insde corner of the leg makes a tremendous difference in the
apparent 'massiveness' of the table.