turning legs with a router

[sawdustmaker]

Has anyone ever turned large (dining table...)legs using a router and a
jig? How did they turn out? I'm going to biuld a table for my son and his
wife and don't have a lathe.

[Bill]

sawdustmaker wrote:
> Has anyone ever turned large (dining table...)legs

Too vague. I don't see how you can get helpful feedback without
at least a drawing.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2018 17:52:46 -0400, Bill <WhoK...@newsguy.com> wrote:

>sawdustmaker wrote:
>> Has anyone ever turned large (dining table...)legs

>>using a router and a jig? How did they turn out?
>> I'm going to biuld a table for my son and his
>> wife and don't have a lathe.
>>
>
>Too vague. I don't see how you can get helpful feedback without
>at least a drawing.
>

https://www.wwgoa.com/video/how-to-turn-a-cylinder-with-a-router-000274/

[Bill]

I was unable to follow the link, but a cylinder is quite a lot
different than a table leg, isn't it... I think if you have to
ask how to go about this, than you are in over your head. Just
use a table saw and be done with it (you can play with your
router for the entire rest of the day, after you are finished).
If you are not going to go with the table saw or lathe approach,
I think cabriole legs are quite nice. If you can't explain what
you wish to do, how can anyone assist you? Just thinking, if you
want "cylinders", you can probably order some ready made.. HTH.

Bill

[Unquestionably Confused]

Interesting jig. Cabriole legs are out of the question with it, but it
does allow for tapered legs and straight columns. Also, with a bit of
imagination and using the multiple holes placed in the which could be
used for indexing the work piece, you could have fluted columns
(straight or tapered). Taking it a step further you could add some
"banding" to it using core box bit in the router and fixing the router
carriage in place as you go along.

[Leon]

Sometime this can be more trouble than it is worth. I would consider
tablelegs.com

[shiggins]

On 8/16/2018 2:20 PM, sawdustmaker wrote:

For a while, I used a Sears Router Crafter to make full length
gunstocks. The whole machine was a little loosey-goosey so I made my own
borrowing some from the Crafter.
Instead of using a cable to advance the router along a template I used a
piece of 10-32 all thread. I attached an old damper control motor to the
all thread so I didn't have to crank the router along the work. End
switches allowed me to do other things while the machine did its work.
It had manual depth adjustment. I was always going to install auto depth
but I sold it before I got around to it.
Sorry. No pics as I don't have either machine anymore.

Steve

[Larry Kraus]

I used a similar idea to turn a couple dozen spindles for the sides of a
cradle, probably better described as tapered dowels.

I actually had a lathe as one function of my Shopsmith, but lacked the
skills to create uniform spindles. (and had no time to practice - baby
was coming soon!)

I made a small table that slid on the rails to support the router over
the workpiece. I offset the outboard lathe center so that it was
sufficiently higher than the drive end to get the needed taper, much the
same way the video jig has different height holes. The fact that I had
an actual lathe to rotate the workpiece helped. I had both hands free to
operate the router and because it spun the workpiece much faster than a
hand crank, no sanding was needed.It's been twenty years or so, but I
seem to recall several failed attempts while getting the adjustments
just right. Practice on something cheap before committing to your good wood.

The spindles were tapered throughout and glued into holes matched to
their diameter at either end. Table legs will probably need to retain a
square section at the top, I think it would be simplest to shape the
square-round transition with hand tools.

[Sonny]

On Friday, August 17, 2018 at 10:54:58 PM UTC-5, Larry Kraus wrote:

> Table legs will probably need to retain a
> square section at the top, I think it would be simplest to shape the
> square-round transition with hand tools.

Or the table's skirts, themselves, if applicable, could be mortised into the round legs, a bit, plus dowels or tenons, then apply a diagonal corner brace. This process may be (probably would be) more work (and troublesome), than retaining a square leg-ends, as Larry suggests, in the first place.

In this or any leg-configuration case, it would be best to cut the mortises, before turning, but I suppose you already know that.

As to that router jig, that seems a pretty neat solution, to a no-lathe "problem".

Sonny

[Martin Eastburn]

Not only for non-lathe users - but for those of us who have lathes and
can use them
but need many identical legs. Hand lathes are great for 1 of but 20 of
or even 4 of.

Martin - I've been turning since the 50's. I'd do it myself.