Popular Woodworking 2009-02 № 174, страница 42

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The besi reason to use the band saw to cut tapers is that there are few limitations as to what you can do. You can even use this technique to taper a pencil-post bed. Plus, there are no jigs or math.

You just simply lay out the taperyou want, cut it close on the band saw then handplane the taper down to your cutline.

The other thing 1 quite like about this technique is that the final result is ready for finishing. Once you handplane the tapers, you don't have to sand them.

The only serious criticism of this met hod is that you can end up with four legs that are very slightly different. It's a not a practical concern because no one will be able to see

the difference in the finished product - the legs will be loo far apart from one another for differences to show. But some woodworkers are delighted by perfection.

One more note: I f you don't have a hand-plane you can also clean up the tapers on ajointer. If you use a jointer, however, you will have to do some sanding. PW — CS

1 Preliminary cleanup. Before you taper the legs, dress all four faces. This will remove any slight twist and will prepare the untapered sections of the leg for finishing.

If you can draw it, you can cut it. Using a ruler or a long scrap of wood, lay out the er on one face of your work.

3 A critical cut. When cutting on the band saw, don't cross your layout line. And don't shy away from it either. I shoot for cutting right next to it. This improves your accuracy. Once you've cut one face, lay out the taper on the adjacent side and make that cut.

dogs and clean off the ■ marks down to your layout line. Almost any plane will work: a jack, smoother or jointer.

yj Dress the tapers. Clamp the legs betwf

5 Extra support. Sometimes it helps to support the tapered foot while planing it. Use one of your offcuts from your band-saw work.

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