Taper Jig setup (long)

[Alberto]

Hi all,

I need help to figure out how to set up my taper jig to get the taper I want. I'm trying to taper a leg that's 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 17 1/4. I want the taper to start 4 1/2" from the top and and finish such as the foot of the leg ends up being 1 x 1.

I drew this on a leg and set it up by eye the best I could. Result, not even close!!! Fortunately I took the precaution of making 2 extra legs for setups...
If I get 1x1 at the bottom, the taper doesn't starts where I want and if starts where I want, the bottom ends up being of a different size.
Also, since the leg is thick and the blade round, the taper starts at different distances from the top of the leg for the face and back. Not to mention that the whole operation scares the heck out of me...

I still have another leg to ruin with tests and 8 legs to make for real. HELP please!!!

Thanks,

Alberto//

[Roman]

Alberto I will forward you a sketch via e mail ( Im not sure if hotmail will accept it) of how I cut tapers. Do you have a thickness planer? or will you be using a table saw?

[Russ Phelps St. Albert AB]

Hi Alberto; I got one of those Taper Jigs also,I tried it once and didn't like it. Is there any chance you could use a band saw.I know there is a way to use your Taper Jig but for me a bandsaw is so much easier. Sorry for not being any help. Russ

[Alberto]

Thanks Roman,

Yes, I have a thickness planer. So far I've tried TS and BS. Now that you mention the planer I seem to remember reading how to do it with a planer. Send me the sketch, hotmail is fine to receive attachments. Thnx,

Alberto//

[Steve in Kemptville, ON]

I recently used a home made taper jig that worked great for the same application. It's from FWW #146.

If you don't have it....

You take some scrap that's 6" longer than the leg. Make the edges paralell. Make 3 notches each one being 1/2 the taper. So you want to taper from 1.5 to 1" so you will make 3, 1/4" notches. The notches are ripped out so that the whole leg will fit in the cutout you make in the jig. It ends up looking like stair steps at the very end of a long board.

Set your fence so that with the jig in place you blade will leave 1-1/4" exactly after the first cut (distance from the riser of the inside-most notche to the blade).

Set the leg in the jig resting flat against the long part. Move the base of the leg down a notch which will tilt it out 1/4" and make the first cut. flip it 180 deg and move it down to the last notch adn make the cut. You now have identical tapers on 2 edges.

Now for the opposing side. I just cut the angle as above with the newly cut tapers flat on the table but this makes the entry where the blade starts different. Its worse on thicker stock. You will still have the curve because of the round blade. You might be able to do it on the bandsaw but here;s what I did to get rid of it...

I left the bottoms of the legs a bit fat, say 1-1/8 and then took 1/32 off each taper with the jointer (or hand plane). THis squares up that curved saw cut at the top of the legs.

THis jig does not address the dimension you stated you wanted left square at the top but I'd make up some 1.5" scraps of plywood and experiment away on those to see if you can get it to work. My table legs turned out great with a bit of tweaking.

Good luck.
Steve.

[Alberto]

Hi RUss,

Actually I've tried with the BS but I have the same problem. That it, I don't know how to set it up so the taper starts and ends exactly where I want. I can't get the relation between fence-blade distance with respect of the angle on the jig. I must be something obvious that I'm missing...

Alberto//

[Steve in Kemptville, ON]

Roman, please send it to me also if you don't mind.
caters@magma.ca

[Mike from Milton]

I recently finished a cherry Shaker hall table with four tapered legs. Bought wood for four legs and finished with four legs first try! Did on my table saw with a jig from Wood Magazine that I downloaded a few months back. I think I have a Adobe pdf file of the sliding taper jig that I could email to you. It is really quite simple. I could take a digital photo of my jig on the saw etc., but would take a day or so, as I have to get the camera from my son - no big deal though.

My legs started to taper 7 inches from the top and tapered from 2 inches to 1 inch. The edge of the sliding jig just passes by the saw blade and it was easy to sight the proper alignment of the leg for the cut. Some simple hold downs secured the wood. As I cut each slice off, I taped the piece back on with masking tape to hold the correct position for the next cut . Two sides were tapered. They were nice and smooth and needed only a bit of scraping with a cabinet scraper and sanding. I sweated doing them, but they are gorgeous. I found the table saw easier to work on than the bandsaw would have been, due to the larger table.

When I get some time to mess with the Future Shop photo page, I will post a picture of the table.
Mike

[Steve in Kemptville, ON]

Mike, is that a hinged 'scissor' type jig like the Lee Valley one?

If so I assume you must move the fence to cut the opposite side. I assume you tape the scrap wedge back on so the cut edge is flush with the square part again... right? (that would mean it would not be flush with the bottom)

[Mike from Milton]

No. it is really just a rather long narrow piece of plywood that you clamp the leg onto, with the taper to be cut off, hanging over the edge of the board. You push it through the saw and voila, a clean taper. The beauty of it is that you can sight the edge of the taper to line it up. The clamp is just some bolts with spacers to give the correct height. Doesn't look like much but works well.
Mike

[Roman]

This would work if the leg was tapered on two faces only but the concept is right on. Some dont cut all the way through the leg so as not to change where the cut starts. Most things are better understood with a picture.

[Roman]

Jigs made to put a taper on a leg using a jig are usually solid through out so that the wood passes through the planer at an angle thus a taper. Try supporting the wood only at the front and back. If the legs all come from the same piece of wood, then the tensil strenght of ther wood will be the same. Whhen the leg goes through ,the pressure bar and or feed bars will bend the wood cutting a perfect taper and arc. Japanese style Cool eh

[John Bubb]

I tried jigs but I now use a combination of a bandsaw and a jointer. First I draw the taper on the (usually 2) sides of the leg, and then rough-cut to within about 1/16 inch of the line using a bandsaw. Then using the lightest possible cut I skim off the remaining 1/16 inch of the taper on the jointer. With the jointer fence at exactly 90 degrees, the tapers come out perfectly square every time and you can creep up on the exact dimension you need. A steady hand on the bandsaw helps as this sets the angle of the taper and you don't want the leg rocking when you joint it.

[Darrell in Oakville]

Yeah, what John says...

I just finished a circular kitchen table made from
ash. The legs are tapered on two sides. I used
the bandsaw to rough out the tapers (just cut
close to the line, by eye) followed by a jack
plane to clean up the saw marks. I had the hot
melt glue gun plugged in nearby, so I could just
slap the offcut back on the leg to make the
second cut. We might get the pix back tomorrow
and then I can show it off...

Darrell

[Paul O'H Ingersoll]

Alberto
If its a table leg, they are usually tapered on the two inside edges, not on all 4 sides. This makes it easier to make a taper jig, and they look better.
You can also taper with a hand plane, I just finished some nesting tables and i tapered them with a plane.
paul

[Ron Evers, Beeton, ON]

1. Draw a line on the leg where you want to start the taper.

2. Draw a vertical line on the jointer fence at the point where the knives reach the top.

3. Set the depth of cut to about 3/32".

4. Set the leg down on the running knives such that the line on the leg is 3/16" past the line on the fence and push the leg through. This will cause the leg to taper from zero cut at the top to the set depth at the end.

5. Repeat the cuts until you get close to final size and then reduce the depth of cut and sneak up on the final dimension leaving it about 1/32" oversize.

6. You will now have a straight taper with a slight scallop at the top of the taper just below the line for the start of taper.

7. Take a clean-up cut holding the tapered face flat on the infeed table and push the leg straight through (not starting at the line).

Try the process on a scrap first so that you are comfortable with the process.

I used to do all my tapers this way but now sometimes use a taper jig on the TS for speed although it is somewhat intimidating.

Best Regards, Ron.

[Mike from Milton]

here is the site address where you can see the Wood magazine jig I referred to earlier.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodmall...taperjig1.html

[Alberto]

I had so many good suggestions that I feel I can write o book on tapering

I'll let you know how it turned out.

Alberto//

[Roman]

Ive done this too and it works great, I could expand on this method but,......

[Ron Evers, Beeton, ON]

Roman, by all means do, the folk on this forum are pleased with constructive posts.

Best Regards, Ron.