How to Turn a Cabriole Leg By Richard McGann

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Lionel White
5 years ago
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1 How to Turn a Cabriole Leg By Richard McGann

2 Page 2 History. The cabriole leg has been known since ancient times. The Egyptians used them thousands of years ago. For tables, chairs, and stools, they used a hand-carved representation of an animal s leg-usually a lion or eagle. Sometimes they had the eagle s talons clutching a ball. After the invention of the powered lathe in the late 1800 s, a version of the cabriole leg that could be turned found its way into production. A true cabriole leg cannot be turned on the lathe. There is just no way to turn the sweeping curves and hand-carve the elaborate claw and ball foot. Handcarved cabriole legs are very time consuming and expensive to produce. The turned cabriole leg lends itself to production turning and is easily performed by a skilled turner. This turned cabriole leg is the one being demonstrated here. Materials. The wood for this project will need to be the same as the rest of the project you are building. Any good furniture grade lumber will be finecherry, walnut, mahogany, oak, etc. The wood will need to be dimensioned as precisely as possible. Layout and set up are critical. Remember, any layout and centering error is doubled in woodturning and everything must be spot-on. Equipment 1. Lathe-you will need a lathe capable of turning the leg. Usually, the longest leg you will turn will be no longer than 30 inches. Stools and chairs will be shorter. Run lathe about 1,800 to 2,000 for 2 square leg. 2. Turning tools A.)Roughing gouge B.)Bowl gouge C.)Spindle gauge D.)Skew E.)Parting tool F.)Center finder G.)Awl H.)Calipers

3 Page 3 3. Sanding and Finishing A.)Sandpaper-180 grit, 220 grit, 320 grit B.)Steel wool C.)Sanding sealer D.)Finishing supplies 1. Shellac, stain, wax, etc. 2. Can be finished off the lathe if you want to match the rest of the project. Layout 1. Layout is critical. Follow the directions exactly. Use only precisely dimensioned lumber. 2. Find the centers on each end and draw diagonals on both the foot and top of the leg. 3. The square section at the top of the leg will be about 4 to 6 long depending on the project. Draw a line across at this point and mark the exact center. This is the pommel or shoulder location. 4. There are 2 ways to turn the leg: A.) One for the foot to come off the flat side of the leg (as in a circular table). B.) One for the foot to come off the corner. These are used for the corners of chairs and tables. Both are described below. 5. For a foot to come off the flat side: A.) Mark on the foot of the leg ½ the distance from the center to the edge, as in the diagram below. Carry this line with a square to the face side. Be precise! B.) Now, draw a line from the half-way mark at the foot up the face side, and through the center mark at the shoulder to the top of the leg. Continue this line across the top of the leg. This offset mark should be slightly to the right of the center mark.

4 Page 4 C.)You now have the offset points for the foot and top. They should look like this diagram-one to the left of center at the foot and on the top to the right of center. On a 1 ½ x 14 leg, the off center points will be approximately 3/8 on the foot and 3/16 on the top. D.) If you want a foot coming off the corner, the only difference is that the bottom foot offset point must come off the diagonal line. See the diagram below: The top offset point remains the same layout as previously described for the foot coming off the flat side. Take a compass and swing an arc from the 1/2 way mark to the left diagonal. Mark the point where it crosses the diagonal. It is not half of the diagonal. This is important. The top offset point is marked the same for both types of feet. Be careful and precise in the layout because it will affect the shape of the leg. The big advantage of this layout method is that it works for any size blanks and any length leg. All layout points are set in proportions and not in absolute dimensions. You can simply lay out any leg by following these steps with no calculations or complicated measuring.

5 Page 5 Turning the Leg 1. Place the blank on the lathe using the center points first. We will offset the points later. 2. Turn the lathe to approximately 1,800 to 2,000 rpm s. 3. Use a skew on the shoulder first. This is properly called a pommel. Start 1/4 to the waste side and finish with a square or curved pommel. The skew is the weapon of choice here. There is no better way to cut a pommel than with a skew. 4. Use a roughing gouge to turn the leg below the pommel to round. 5. Sand well before the next step. 6. Using a skew, cut the pad below the foot. Make a V cut 1/4 to 3/8 from the end. Round the V out from both directions slightly. 7. Now, change the center points on the lathe to the offset points. If you have laid out properly, the 2 ends should be offset and a ghosting at each end appears. The shoulder at the pommel should be in the round with no ghosting. Turn down the leg with a roughing gauge and just cut the ghost out. You must not go beyond the ghost or you will wreck the leg. To get the sharp curve at the foot, use a spindle gauge. This is a highly interrupted cut so go slow and be precise. Sand leg. 8. Change the leg back to the center points and turn the pad under the foot to completion. You may need to also round the bottom of the foot slightly. Sand this area. Conclusion A turned cabriole leg is a great way to add some character and attractive design to your woodworking projects. Try it! And good luck! Richard McGann

A candle stick addresses transferring and reproducing dimensions from a plan and breaking the project into steps.

A candle stick addresses transferring and reproducing dimensions from a plan and breaking the project into steps. Activities Discussion These projects allow more skill development including making items to match a drawing, sizing projects to specific dimensions, and just trying fun stuff for the first time! A candle