preparing to fit the base to the leg assembly
defining a semicircle with 3 saw cuts
3 saw cuts get refined into facets with a paring chisel
and again
then shaped with a rasp
the base of one of the leg assemblies after the 1/2 lap-tapered dado has been cut
here, mated with the white oak leg
a different piece of white oak being shaped with a rasp, one of three slats joining the top of the leg assemblies together and to the table top
the slats also receive a long bevel
the slats will rest in the notches being cut into the top of this leg section
clearing out material from the notch with a 1″ chisel
establishing the final depth with a router plane
here the slats are temporarily in place
an arsenal of shaping tools to begin sculpting the legs
shaping inside-curves of the leg assembly with an aggressive rasp
forming a radius where the legs meet the base
the preliminary drawings had a horizontal stretcher connecting the two leg assemblies at floor level. Having rough-shaped the components and taking a look, I started visualizing an arc instead. PVC pipe (already bent from a previous life in some low garden tunnels) offered a quick prototype to help see how it would look.
the arc made sense, so now setting about squaring up a white oak timber for re-sawing
re-sawn white oak and a glue-lamination form ready to make an arc
the glue lamination in the form- my 8 year old son was indispensable in this process, helping to roll glue, assemble, and clamp
rhythm is in unity to woodwork
the white oak timber, reconfigured as a messy arc
work for the jack plane
now the smoothing plane
cutting the tapers along the length of the arc at the band saw
marking the taper at the width
cutting the taper at the width
more elbow grease with the smoothing plane
shaping the many curves and facets along the arc, first with a drawknife
then with spokeshave
establishing details with knife
facets ease into curves
test fitting- some refining-shaping to go yet
setting the location of the chamfers on the leg-base
shaving away rasp markings
carving corner transitions
so many details to bring together- here the leg base is about done.
That’s it for this round- next week there will be lots of sanding, also carving and inlay work as the table finally starts to become unified. Thank you to everyone for following along, and for your encouraging comments.
The School of the Transfer of Energy 