Turning a long taper
 

Hi guys,

I'm fairly new to turning and am working on a shaker bedside table for
my bedroom. The legs are 25" long and taper from 1 1/2" to 3/4" along
the bottom 20". There is no beading or other decoration along the
taper, just a straight line. I've done pretty good with the first two
legs, but have been wondering if there is a more accurate and easier
way to do this. What I have been doing is turning the top of the taper
to size, then turning the bottom of the taper to size. I also turn a
section about halfway down to a about an 1". I then connect the three
sections by eye. The legs look good, but I know they do not form a
perfectly smooth taper from one section to the next and that they are
not consistant from leg to leg.

Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks,
Richard

Turning a long taper
 

"Richard Green" wrote : (clip) The legs look good, but I know they do not
form a perfectly smooth taper from one section to the next and that they are
not consistant from leg to leg. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Your method sounds good to me. You could refine it slightly be turning at
the 1/3 points or 1/4 points if you are not satisfied with your results.
Remember that when they are mounted on a table, no one will be able to place
them together to look for differences. If they look good enough to you now,
they are good enough.

Turning a long taper
 

The legs look good, but I know they do not form a
perfectly smooth taper from one section to the next and that they are
not consistant from leg to leg.

Is there a better way to do this?

Leo's suggestion of adding more points is good. Also you might consider
sanding with the paper wrapped on a block. Use a block long enough to
bridge between your starting points.

Turning a long taper
 

Build a very long and wide table, then nobody can see two legs
simultaneously ;)

Turning a long taper
 

On Aug 3, 3:32 pm, "Derek H" wrote:
Build a very long and wide table, then nobody can see two legs
simultaneously ;)

LOL :)

I was actually thinking a long table cloth would do the trick :)

Turning a long taper
 

"Richard Green" wrote in message
s.com...


Is there a better way to do this?

There's a different way. Chamfer the edges with a plane or shave prior to
turning. That way you have a continuous reference, not three points. Turn
to circularity along its length.

Shakers would have done it with a drawknife, I imagine, but I'd use
something less likely to make my hands look like Roy's. Long tapers are a
great place to use a straight chisel. No sanding required!

Turning a long taper
 

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:03:57 -0700, Richard Green wrote:

Hi guys,

I'm fairly new to turning and am working on a shaker bedside table for
my bedroom. The legs are 25" long and taper from 1 1/2" to 3/4" along
the bottom 20". There is no beading or other decoration along the
taper, just a straight line. I've done pretty good with the first two
legs, but have been wondering if there is a more accurate and easier
way to do this. What I have been doing is turning the top of the taper
to size, then turning the bottom of the taper to size. I also turn a
section about halfway down to a about an 1". I then connect the three
sections by eye. The legs look good, but I know they do not form a
perfectly smooth taper from one section to the next and that they are
not consistant from leg to leg.

Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks,
Richard

Norm would probably:

Build a taper jig for the table saw

Cut 4 tapered legs after glue dries and nails are removed from taper jig

Mount them on the lathe between centers and sand well using shop-built sanding
block.

I tried the eccentric tail stock on the Shopsmith once and decided that I was
not skilled enough to read the directions and the tapered leg sample turning was
VERY weird..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Turning a long taper
 

Thanks everyone. I got the legs finished this weekend and they turned
out pretty good. I used four reference points instead of two and make
an 8" sanding block to smooth things out. It never occured to me to
taped the legs before turning them, even though I used my table saw to
cut tapered legs for another table I made a couple of months ago. I
think I'll try this next time.

Richard

Turning a long taper
 

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:03:57 -0700, Richard Green
wrote:

Hi guys,

I'm fairly new to turning and am working on a shaker bedside table for
my bedroom. The legs are 25" long and taper from 1 1/2" to 3/4" along
the bottom 20". There is no beading or other decoration along the
taper, just a straight line. I've done pretty good with the first two
legs, but have been wondering if there is a more accurate and easier
way to do this. What I have been doing is turning the top of the taper
to size, then turning the bottom of the taper to size. I also turn a
section about halfway down to a about an 1". I then connect the three
sections by eye. The legs look good, but I know they do not form a
perfectly smooth taper from one section to the next and that they are
not consistant from leg to leg.

Is there a better way to do this?

I know you're already finished, but the engine-lathe method for doing
this is to offset the tail stock. Not easy to do that with a wood
lathe, but we've got an easier alternative availible.

I've made a long temporary tool rest that I can clamp onto the ways in
the past. Set the angle you need, and then use that as a guide. It
has to be further out than the unturned blank, but most tapers you
need for a table leg aren't that severe, and you don't lose that much
leverage by having the rest 1" from the work rather than .25". If you
grasp your tool firmly with your leading hand and use your index
finger as a guide against the rest, you're basically using a caveman
style duplicator.

The other thing that works really nicely if you're going for a simple,
smooth taper is to mark your reference points, use the parting tool
and a pair of calipers to set your depths, and then shave it down
(with the lathe running at a slow speed) using a hand plane. The foot
of the plane keeps the taper smooth and consistant. IIRC, I cant the
plane to about a 30 degree angle relative to the horizonal line of the
work, effectively turning it into a tame skew with built-in depth
control.

Both of the above have worked well for me, though I tend to lean
towards the hand-plane method.