Leg tapering question.....

Re: Leg tapering question.....

TomD

I wouldn't like that, but one practical reason to do that is it allows the leg to pass moldings.

Generally it is a bad idea to design aesthetics from construction. Though it has to factor in at some level.

The one time I did something similar was on a coffee table, and in that case the leg was parallel, until shelf, and then the taper kicked in. In this case it was a simple turned leg, but the issues are the same.

To figure the look out for yourself, you can draw it out, or you can cut out dark paper, or leftover 1/8" and just mock it up, use your eye.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

John Pappas

Barry, I've done that for the very reason you state, the use of a bottom shelf. I like the look of the negative space between the legs....rectangular Sorry I don't have a good picture to show.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Make the taper from below the shelf.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Leg tapering question.....

Don Stephan

For considerations of seasonal expansion and contraction, I would not want the shelf tight to the legs. Several years ago I made something similar and ran mortised cleats across the end pairs of legs, then rested the shelf on the cleats. It was time consuming to trim the cleat shoulders to match the taper of the legs, but I thought it visually more attractive to taper the inside faces of the legs. A single brad or screw on the underside of the cleats into the shelf kept it in place without coflicting with seasonal movement.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

jesse cloud

Get a piece of cardboard or something and draw one side of the piece that way and see how it looks. If it works for you, show it to the client.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

William Duffield

Tapering the outsides of the legs will look strange and decrease the stability of the table.

Execute the joinery before you taper the legs.

Decide on a joinery method so the tapering operation will not show a gap. You might start by researching "housed mortise and tenon," but be forewarned that there are lots of conflicting definitions for "housed" out there.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

John Pappas

"Tapering the outsides of the legs will look strange and decrease the stability of the table."

Some may find the look to be strange....a personal thing. I don't see that at all. As far as stability, I don't think reducing the stance of such a table by one inch would have any significant effect on its stability.

Re: I agree

Hank Knight

Tapering below the shelf solves lots of problems. Just mark the bottom of the shelf on the leg and tape from there. It's easy and precise with hand planes. From there you can taper any way you like: inside only, inside/outside, or outside only, it doesn't interfere with your joinery.

Disagree; taper from beneath apron

ronster

While I agree with the majority that tapering should be on the interior of legs, I much prefer a continuous taper commencing just below the apron area. Thus, although the original poster wishes to avoid this, a taper above and below the shelf.

Doing the mortising before tapering might be of assistance, depending on your methods.

Re: Leg tapering question.....

ebd

Justy looked at two tables I made for the house. Both have the taper on the inside. I think they would look awful (goofy) with the taper on the outside.