Make a Leg

 Last blog I said I would share the method I used to make the legs for the recent table.  I made the legs with mostly hand tools.

  First I glued elm boards together to give me approximately 1 5/8 squares. Making sure the boards were flat and the glue joint was perfect probably  took more time than making each leg.

  I like elm, it is tough, a bit stringy and  has interesting grain patterns.  The leg is 13 inches long and 1 5/8 square.  I am planning to put a 1 3/8 tenon on one end.

  I drilled out a board to give me a jig for both marking and size testing.

  I've made tenons this size before so I kept the jig from making small tables and stools.

I used the hole to mark the end of the leg blank.

  I marked the tenon to be 1 1/2 inches, then cut into the blank's corners with a fine toothed saw .

  Using a chisel, draw knife and rasp I rounded the tenon until it fit tightly into the hole in the jig.  After the tenon was right I clamped the leg into the vise and planed off the four corners to give a rustic hexagon shape. 

  To do this job the tools I used were a saw, a plane, draw knife (just 'cause I've got one), a rasp and vise to hold the work in place. I used my favourite home made wood rasp.

  If you are ever someplace that is selling hacksaw blades by the bundle cheap, go for it. I can't remember what I paid for this bunch of blades but it was pocket change cheap, and I use it all the time.

  A decent drill with a bit of power will drill the holes in the top/seat and the legs can be made to be sturdy and attractive.  A lathe is nice to have, but not all shops have the space or budget, You can make acceptable legs without a lathe.

cheers ianw