The COOLEST way to cut leg tapers!

[@StumpyNubs]

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[@akbychoice]

Stumpy Nubs how are these for noise isolation on airplanes?

[@StumpyNubs]

I know folks buy them specifically for that purpose.

[@JeffSolenberg]

I caught this at Chuck's presentation at the Indianapolis Woodworking Show last month. I will admit that at first glance it seemed a bit complicated but when you stop to think about it, it requires no jigs, there aren't really that many steps and each step takes only seconds, every leg you do will come out identical, and, very little sanding will be necessary when you're done; I think this is an excellent tip. Thank you James and Chuck!

[@C_L_Thomas]

Wow. I could really mess that up.

[@kentturkow1572]

Very cool. Always like to see new ideas. There would be less sanding that way. Thanks for sharing. Keep the videos coming.

[@waltersaj11]

Why would there be less sanding?

[@markshipley560]

@@waltersaj11 Because a jointer typically makes a cleaner cut than a table saw

[@4SafetyTraining]

Always worth the time when you post some thing, Thanks

[@mikeemmons1844]

I just tried this out. Amazing. Perfect results

[@philippeterson9512]

I’ve been doing this for years. I call it “popping a wheelie” on the jointer. Here’s another hint. If you think your depth of cut is too much, divide the length by 3 or 4 instead of two. Do the first pass just like shown (except stop at the 1/3 or 1/4 mark), thorn it around and make the remaining passes.

[@teacher_of_the_arcane5399]

7-29-19 .... Just came in from the shop where I used this technique to taper a set of table legs. My jointer table wouldn't lower to 11/16 inch cut that was needed for the initial passes, but the end product (the foot of the leg) was only 3/32 wider than I wanted. End result was a success !! Thanks so much !

[@Faustustopheles]

Wow.... That's awesome...

[@rona1144]

This is the best video I have seen so far on this. I have a double taper leg to make on the jointer I inherited. I like this method better than others I seen. We put a large quartz slab on our dining room table, I have a 4x4 giving support in the middle, effective but not ascetic.

[@johnbabbin6489]

I couldn't figure out to do this with my equipment and jigs . AWESOME tip . Many thanks

[@alanlillich6738]

Thanks for yet another great tip. Two suggestions to make the setup faster and safer. The depth of cut is 1/4 the difference between the leg width at the top and bottom. (Half the difference on each side, half of that for the jointer cut.) Use your combo square tip to set that directly with the machine off. With the machine also off, roll the cutter head to get the start of cut - it won't matter if you're off by a tiny fraction.

[@heystarfish100]

I had heard about using the jointer for tapering legs decades ago. First time I’ve seen it done. Thank you James, I will have to give it a try.

[@thomasklink3766]

Pretty slick, great tip.

[@MD-en3zm]

Fascinating - I’ve never seen this done before.

[@grizzly22485]

Followed for years. Always fun, always interesting.

[@Chresmologue]

I'd spotted that article of Chuck Bender's earlier, but it wasn't quite clear to me what he was doing. Your explanation is perfectly lucid -- thanks! I have some doubts about the procedure, but I certainly intend to give it a try and see how it goes.

[@williamellis8993]

Awesome idea and technique.

[@Gethin_Duggan]

Impressed by this. At the beginning of the video I was sceptical but I was pleasantly surprised.

[@kevinbowker2385]

I won't use this but I REALLY enjoyed seeing it. Thanks for sharing this, James!

[@sateeshum394]

always best to check the surfacer as the dull blades can do more damage in such deep cuts, feed rate and be safe on small length legs. sure is a great way to make taper legs and love this method...

[@rrrlalatimmy]

Awesome tip! I always knew there was a slick way to do it this way

[@Chef_PC]

Always up for more techniques to add to the info bucket. This may not be for everybody, but it’s good to know there are multiple ways to do something in case you can’t accomplish it the one way you know how.

[@TaylerMade]

that's how i was trained many years ago. works well and if you are batching them out it is quicker than having to mount in a jig each time.

[@glencrandall7051]

Interesting procedure. Thank you for sharing.

[@osvaldocristo]

Brilliant!

[@joycemiller4716]

Great idea making a stool at the moment for a customer will be using this tip oh I always have a look to see what you’re up to nice new shop love from England

[@driesvanoosten4417]

That is an impressive depth of cut, especially for such a figured wood. Surprising that it gives a proper surface finisn...

[@akbychoice]

This is a great idea, now I’m gonna have to buy a jointer.

[@joeymerrell8585]

Just got mine. 8"jet helical head. Just a tip, have them bring it in the shop if you can, or have something that can move it. I'm sure I'll enjoy mine after the hernia surgery...

[@gregmislick1117]

@@joeymerrell8585 shop is in the basement with old uneven granite steps down and a crazy maze around the chimney after you finish falling in. .... I guess I'll have to stay with the crude tapering jig and that bohemian 10" saw blade. ....once I finish knapping out new chisel s..... Enjoy your new toy !!!

[@GeorgeSA5]

And not just a cheap jointer either :))))

[@joeymerrell8585]

@@gregmislick1117 hey boss, if you can make something with it, and enjoy it, it's a good tool. Keep the blades spinning...and your digits on your hand.

[@hassanal-mosawi6049]

Thanks for sharing that

[@dscraft6358]

That's a really cool trick. Thanks for sharing. I have to try that out in my upcoming projects I had not seen that before :)

[@philipcatuogno2968]

Cut on the table saw and one or two passes on the jointer to clean up the cut.

[@kiwdwks]

So awesome...thank you!

[@joycemiller4716]

Just tried it works great 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿👍

[@johnaurand4090]

Wow that is one that I couldn't do.

[@brainfornothing]

I don't know if is better or not, but this is very clever ! Also, you can brag in front of your friends, Hehehe ! Thanks for sharing !

[@root1657]

So with a router table being similar to a joiner flipped sideways when a straight bit is installed, I think this would also work on the joiner, if you flip all the instructions sideways (imagine the video was filmed from above) and go slow with the cut. (all of this assumes you are using a split fence to have the same outfeed support as the split joiner table.)

[@StumpyNubs]

I was think the same thing. Might do a followup on it.

[@GeorgeSA5]

Interesting. Looks like you would need an industrial quality jointer for that though.

[@StumpyNubs]

He's using a small one in the video.

[@StumpyNubs]

@@ricos1497 - The worst that can happen is it will bog down and stall the machine if it's underpowered.

[@chemcody5119]

That would scare the piss out of me!

[@hawkeye10100]

I looked into getting some ISO earbuds but I don't have a smartphone. The earbuds sound like a good idea.

[@jasondoust4935]

Is that Rock Maple he's doing that with..? We have some cranky grained tough old hardwoods in Australia and the Pacific so I'm wondering if this would still be a wise idea on figured Redgum, Blackbutt, Jarrah, Merbau or the like.

[@vincepresto759]

That’s Pretty Slick ! Thx’s

[@11211lcb]

I have always heard that it could be done and Now I have seen it done. The only word of caution I would add is to be careful with drain direction, you could have some nasty tear out. I personally use my track saw to taper legs, quick and easy.

[@CarlosGlatzos976]

Great tip, but only if you have an industrial grade jointer at hand. 1/2 inch depth of cut, holy moly! My more "diyish" chinese import jointer has max depth of cut of 3 mm (0.11"), which leaves a really small taper :-) But I love to see how professionals do things anyway so thanks for sharing - I will now remeber this forever and start to search for an used big ass jointer now, he he. Cheers!

[@rudyschwab7709]

The first question I had after seeing this was, "How in the hell did he figure out how to do this?" That is a mind working at a whole other level than the the one we are on.

[@K31swiss]

Trickanometry

[@johnlabbe6433]

As I recall, Kelly Mahler used a jointer to taper the legs in his video on making a Shaker table. I think that Kelly made a series of increasingly longer cuts so his technique was a little different. Still, all he had to do following those cuts was to make a couple passes with a smoothing plane and the legs were ready for construction and finishing.

[@CASHU2400]

Mind blown!!

[@HyperactiveNeuron]

That's just genius.

[@barryirby8609]

I have seen this method before, years ago. It seems to me that the first cut, 3/8" straight into end grain, would be very likely to cause tearout. Not to mention hard on the jointer. I have done it by setting the jointer to 3/8", setting the midline one the cutter with the thin end trailing, this creates a taper that is half length and half depth. Now set the top line on the cutter and make a second pass. Do this on each tapered side. This method puts the cutter cutting out of the grain rather than into it. I find it to be a bit tedious and uncertain. I still like to cut them with a tapering jig on the Table saw and clean them up with either the jointer or a sander.

[@AKendall808]

The thing about this technique is that if you should have something misaligned or slightly off measurement and you make that full cut only to find that things aren't quite what they should be... you've just cut away your reference surfaces and there is no way to "sneak up" on your line. I agree, the method is very interesting and ingenious but I'll stick to the tablesaw/bandsaw.

[@acanthuscarver]

Artie, This entire method is based on you being able to divide two numbers in half - the total amount of taper, and the total length of the taper. If you're worried about getting it right, make sure you mill an extra leg (could be out of a cheaper material) and give it a try. There's no need to "sneak" up on the line if the math is correct.

[@lacarpenter31]

WOW!! 👍👍

[@koolkid1234ism]

i have an 8" jointer and was wondering if there was a way to use it for 12" tapers?

[@huwdavies5264]

Hi James, If I had not just seen that with my own eyes I would have said it was impossible and dangerous to do that on a planer. Amazing and well explained. Cheers, Huw

[@WoodenItBeNice]

@@louiswarmoth7354 👍

[@dspectre]

So now what am I supposed to do with the new taper jig I got for Christmas?

[@akbychoice]

Don St. Esprit 😂

[@root1657]

send it to my house, I'll store it for you.... and test it from time to time to make sure it still works.

[@mikecurtin9831]

A pretty slick tip. Definitely a useful thing to add to my bag of tricks. (Refer to Felix the Cat.) Thanks much.

[@neonjoe529]

My question is... how in the world did that occur to him? :)

[@toddweller]

I was thinking that same thing! It's cool though!

[@gregmislick1117]

Very cool

[@SteveFrenchWoodNStuff]

It's a trick that's been around for a long time. I'm sure he learned it through the grapevine, like you just did.

[@acanthuscarver]

I was taught the technique years ago, like nearly all the woodworking techniques I employ.

[@almostben]

When he says “pivot it down at the foot”, is he lowering the leg onto the blade? How do you get the alignment right?

[@JOHNHOANSHELT]

I just use the table saw jig and then clean up after on the jounter

[@toddburnim9198]

How do you prevent tare out with figured wood?

[@marshallmurrell4583]

Since I don't have a jointer, I will stick with my tapering jig, which seems a lot less fussy to set up anyway.

[@jandrewmore]

Seems like a good trick, but this seems like it's going to be limited on some jointers with smaller motors to a pretty shallow cut. The Grizzly G0490X with a 3 HP motor only suggests a max of 1/8" of an inch. Is this a serious limitation? I must admit I haven't made many tapered legs.

[@StumpyNubs]

That wasn't a very big jointer he was using in the video. The max cut recommendation is for boards of the full width of the jointer. Legs are much narrower.

[@jandrewmore]

@@StumpyNubs Good point, thanks. Keep up the good work!

[@jeffstanley4593]

I do not see the superiority to a taper jig on a table saw but I am certainly not much of a woodworker.

[@jasonmeyer8877]

Some of the advantages of the jointer are no saw kerf to sand and crisper straighter edges.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

Cool tip. Seems a little scary. If I had a jointer, I think I'd use my tablesaw anyway, but cut it a skosh fat, then take a light cut on the jointer. Since I don't have a jointer, and wouldn't have room for one anyway, the point is moot for me. Back to the scraper...

[@jtotheb-ip2hh]

I'm with you on that one! I have seen this done a different way on the jointer and this one seemed slightly less scary. Ah well, since i don't have a jointer, no worries!

[@MulloyDIY]

This is the kind of knowledge and skill that separates true professionals from decent hobbyists like me.

[@alcanobeeone7420]

I love your videos, so much that I tried buying some plans to support you. But since I was only able to download one of the two purchases, AND never got a response to my questions on how to get the second set I paid for I’ll never be buying anything from your site or any of your sponsors. I work to hard for my money to be giving it away. Sorry!

[@StumpyNubs]

I answer every email from someone with a download issue. Let me look and see when you emailed. What's your email address?

[@FearsomeWarrior]

I’m thinking I would run it through the planer after I cut it anyway so why not do it all on the jointer. I’ve seen it done a few different ways on the jointer.

[@mikereslie3389]

Please tell me that he only removed the blade guard for the video. This looks exceedingly dangerous the way it was filmed.

[@StumpyNubs]

Of course.

[@whosaidthat5236]

Errr I think I will stick to square legs

[@johndavidson2365]

Meh

[@js8039]

Seriously? All that for a taper. Sad.

[@fatsmile77]

J S No Kidding!! Say bye bye to jointer blade!!