We had only bought this first house a couple of months prior but I had started rebuilding much of it to suit my dreams.... newly married couple with not near enough tools but something I was trying to do I could have used this special gadget....So I wrote it down and into the next hardware store I started looking for this great tool that would save many problems plus all that time I could save..

 

So I been married over 55 years and yes I have used it one more time in all those years.. Even though it took longer to find it than going to the store and buying another one......and it still looks new for I keep it inside the plastic cover... Since I bought this one I bet there have been maybe 20 or more different versions of it come on the market..

 

Have one almost like it! I use mine to help match convex/concave turnings.

Yep, got mine from my Dad. One just like Jess's.

I remember drooling over them at the hardware stores but just couldn't bring myself to spend the $$'s.

I just used my old cheap compass (think it came from G.C. Murphy or maybe F.W. Woolworth) from elementary school which I still have to scribe along on a piece of paper or cardboard, then cut out the pattern. Course Patch with all that cheap Texas oil & gas you probably had a little more pocket money to make an extra trip or two to the Hardware. I had to wait for grocery shopping day.

43 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I remember drooling over them at the hardware stores but just couldn't bring myself to spend the $$'s.

HF has them, $4.99  

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-contour-gauge-907.html

 

My BIL gave me one that came from Sears. Rweally do not use it now in Turning but will have to try at Lew's suggestion

Got one like Jesse's. And like Jesse, I've used it twice. 

This is taken from my website, "Building Han's Wegner's The Chair":  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/TheChairCoping.html

 

The first step is to trace the intersecting curve at the leg with a contour gauge.

 

 

This is copied onto the stretcher …

 

 

 

The coped end of the tenon is chiseled out with a gouge. I only have a couple of crank necked gouges, rather than the preferred straight gouge, but the largest is a close match for the curve of the leg. The curve still needs to be nibbled away.

 

 

By far the most useful chisel for this process was a 1/8” bevel edge bench chisel. It was used to help remove the waste from the end (below), and along the shoulder (see later).

 

 

The next step is to deepen the tenon with a tenon saw and then remove some of the waste in a diagonal cut against the tenon cheek.

 

 

The coped ends must be left unmodified, however the waste along the cheek can be removed a little deeper than the coped ends. The 1/8” chisel made quick work of this.

 

 

 

The outer edge of the shoulder must be pared to a low angle so the join between the stretcher and leg is minimized …

 

 

 

The completed task …

 

 

And how it worked out …

 

 

 

The full build is here (scroll down):  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html

 

Regards from Perth

 

Derek

 

 

1 hour ago, derekcohen said:

This is taken from my website, "Building Han's Wegner's The Chair"

Awesome!!

Great pictorial essay, Derek. Thanks.

A lot of time and effort and skill  but some awesome results.

On 3/24/2019 at 8:46 AM, derekcohen said:

This is taken from my website, "Building Han's Wegner's The Chair":  http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/TheChairCoping.html

Thanks Derek for the link and the tutorial here. You do some fine work.

Good tool... I use them when putting down tile floors. I just found another one at the junkyard....