The Simplest Tapering Jig

[jteneyck]

I'm sure I've shown this before, but I had to cut tapers on some legs today, so I decided to take some photos and show you the simple jig I use.  I make these jigs for the task at hand. I don't store them.  They take 5 minutes to make from whatever scrap I have.  The jig I made today was to cut tapers on 28" long legs, prior to turning.  The jig is nothing more than a piece of plywood with a rear stop and a shim that's as wide as the taper you need to cut.  These legs taper from 2.4" wide to 1.1", so the shim is 0.65" wide.  

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Here you can see the shim:



When you cut the taper towards the rear of the jig, the blade pushes it against the jig.  Also, the workpiece rides on the saw table, so you don't need hold down clamps, etc. 

OK, this arrange will get you tapers on adjacent faces, but if you want to taper all four faces you need to add a new shim to make up for the waste cut away on the first two.  You could change the first shim, but I just add an additional one beside the first.  



Here it is installed:



Just push it through again to taper the two remaining two faces.



And that's it:



I set the fence to leave extra material for turning, but the 5/8" shim still gives the correct angle.  If I were making straight tapered legs, I would move the fence closer to the blade leaving only maybe 1/32" to clean up by hand.  

John

[Petertaylor]

We always appreciate your expert answers to people’s questions, and how you pass along interesting tips.  —Peter

[Bill Wilson]

Thanks John.  I've seen YT videos for some pretty complex jigs.  Sometimes (*maybe most of the time), simpler is better.

[FS7]

This is brilliant for a straight taper.

For a curved taper, I use a simple planer sled. The feed rollers push down uniformly as the gap allows, and tapers to your desired setting. I have a sled that will hold four 1.5" square legs at 29". Run it through a few times and you have a perfect gradual taper. I have done it two ways as well, which is an attractive if unconventional look.

[jteneyck]

This is brilliant for a straight taper.

For a curved taper, I use a simple planer sled. The feed rollers push down uniformly as the gap allows, and tapers to your desired setting. I have a sled that will hold four 1.5" square legs at 29". Run it through a few times and you have a perfect gradual taper. I have done it two ways as well, which is an attractive if unconventional look.

Could you explain, show photos, of what you mean by a curved taper.  Thanks.

John

[FS7]

Could you explain, show photos, of what you mean by a curved taper.  Thanks.

John

You can see there is a very slight (or rather very large) radius to the taper. It's made on a sled with just a support at one end. The other end is just a stop, and you plane until you have taken off the amount of material you want The curve comes from the fact that it's unsupported in the middle, and so the feed rollers just push it down instead of cutting. It would be somewhat trivial to add more supports in the middle and achieve a straighter line. The sled is buried in the shop but I can take pictures of it if needed.

[jteneyck]

You can see there is a very slight (or rather very large) radius to the taper. It's made on a sled with just a support at one end. The other end is just a stop, and you plane until you have taken off the amount of material you want The curve comes from the fact that it's unsupported in the middle, and so the feed rollers just push it down instead of cutting. It would be somewhat trivial to add more supports in the middle and achieve a straighter line. The sled is buried in the shop but I can take pictures of it if needed.

Thanks.  That's very clever.  Can you control the curve?  

John

[FS7]

Thanks.  That's very clever.  Can you control the curve?  

John

I haven't tried to be honest. But I would guess that you could. Nominally I have a 3/4" riser block at one end and nothing on the other, so the goal is to remove as much as 50% of the material at the tapered end. In between, without support how much material is removed is proportional to how much it resists bending. I would guess the harder and heavier the wood, the more material is removed. My guess is that you could add supports in between the ends where you want more material removed, somewhat like a Bezier curve in computer graphics. It probably has to follow the general taper line, but you should be able to control it. I imagine with a 3/4" riser at one end, you could put 5/8", 1/2", 1/4" and so on somewhere in between to make a more pronounced taper.

[jteneyck]

I haven't tried to be honest. But I would guess that you could. Nominally I have a 3/4" riser block at one end and nothing on the other, so the goal is to remove as much as 50% of the material at the tapered end. In between, without support how much material is removed is proportional to how much it resists bending. I would guess the harder and heavier the wood, the more material is removed. My guess is that you could add supports in between the ends where you want more material removed, somewhat like a Bezier curve in computer graphics. It probably has to follow the general taper line, but you should be able to control it. I imagine with a 3/4" riser at one end, you could put 5/8", 1/2", 1/4" and so on somewhere in between to make a more pronounced taper.

Thanks for the reply.  I think you're probably right.  You know, there are so many interesting things to learn, and to try.  Woodworking is limited only by one's curiosity.  

John