You folks know I'm not  turner. I used to be a "wannabe turner", and anymore I'm not even sure I'm that. Anyway, I have a lathe and the basic tools which I bought to help with my flatwork projects. But after 7 years or so, I haven't even  done that. So I decided it's time. I'm trying to turn legs for a William and Mary table I saw somewhere, but the article was one of those that asks you to dig out an issue from 3 years ago to get the details on turning the legs. I don't have that issue so decided to tackle it on my own. I made a drawing (actual size) and made 2 blanks out of poplar to tune my technique. At the risk of being laughed off the forum, I present the first one below; judging from my results I should have made 7-8 practice blanks. Of course there's the little matter of my measurements (on the leg) being off quite a bit...but my technique for turning a round spot on the leg most definitely needs, well, refining. Here's the leg laying on my drawing....go ahead, laugh your arse off. With my DC down I can't do much of anything else.

Edited February 20, 20215 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Not bad Fred, that looks fine.  The last one is always the best one in my experience.  Work at keeping the lineal measurements close and the shapes seem to blend in with each other and can be off some.  No one will look that close or has the trained eye to tell the difference.  

Looks like your measurements at transitions are good . You need to work on that egg shaped area and bringing it higher with more fullness. Cut to the maximum diameter and mark center with a line. Do not cut that line out just round down from both sides.

Watch this video . Sam will give you some good instructions. You can practice spindle turning with 2 x 4.

 

 

Every turner starts exactly the same way. Good advice from Dan and Gerald already. I always use a pair of calipers to set diameters and then turn to those landmarks. Sometimes it works well and sometimes not. The lathe is all about technique and your technique will only improve with practice.

Fred that ain't bad. Sure maybe not super smooth and all detailed but for years without doing much pretty good.

 

+1 on some practice on a 2x4.  My son tried his first attempts this way. Then got pretty good and bought some mahogany to play with.  

Well, I think you done good.

 

Along with a full sized drawing, a story stick can be helpful in locating the transition points

 

 

 

 

 

I use the full size template and calipers method. Once you have the first one just pick the critical points and use a parting tool to set the diameters using the template as a guide and then turn between those points. That’s a really good first try Fred. 

Yep, before I try the next one I'll have a story stick and I picked up a couple of tips from Gerald's video to try as well. I need to get my DC back on line sinc3e it looks like I'll be making some more poplar practice legs ( maybe I'll try some made of SYP).

It doesn't look exactly like this specification drawing but I like the shape of it.  I think if and when it comes time to turn my first stool I may try something similar.

It took me a while to get back to this, but I've completed my second try. I used a story stick and a couple of tips from the link Gerald provided and think I got a lot better result, but I've got a long way to go. I'm making 4 more billets to keep trying...maybe I'll get it, maybe not. Anyway, I also refined the design slightly to make thing a little easier and the top leg is my second attempt. At least this times the measurements are correct on the spacing of the details. The top one is the latest, bottom one the first attempt.

Looks good!!!  

I have yet to turn a leg, but I have turned my ankles a couple of times (spectacular colors, one of the times). I like both of them, Fred.

WOW! You done good on that one!. 

 

One of the nice things about legs and such are that they are usually not very close together, when in use. Slight differences between them aren't really noticeable when they are installed. 

 

I've made several of these over the years and am proud to say that absolutely none of the spindles are identical!

That leg is looking good now. I did a four poster canon ball bed and no two of the balls are the same but you cannot tell unless I point it out

Most people just see the entire build for what it is, handcrafted.  Of course we are our own worst critics.  

You're doing fine Fred.  I'm betting they will be fine.

Well I've got 3 more billets and some blanks for the feet (the feet are a separate piece 5" long) so in between home duties I'll keep trying. I really need to work on getting a smoother cut (along with a long list of other stuff).

18 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Anyway, I also refined the design slightly to make thing a little easier and the top leg is my second attempt.

 

That's what I did with our front porch spindles.  The pic I had based it upon was pretty intricate.  By the time I finished my practice I had it down to a pretty simple easily replicated piece.  And then turned about 100 of them...  I am sure there are differences, but no one has ever pointed one out to me

Well, maybe I'm gaining on it. I got my 3rd attempt in on my legs. This billet is Douglas fir, which doesn't turn nearly as nice as poplar but I don't want to cut up any more of my poplar stash for practice. I tried to make the 3rd look like the second one, and I'm closer...but no cigar. One thing about it, every time I do one I learn something, which I guess is the purpose of the exercise. So here's how the 3rd one came out, from to to bottom it's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tries. I did sand a little on the 3rd and so I think I need to get my sanding "big mouth" thing set up before I do any more of that. Another thing, I really don't care for the odor of the doug fir, kinda makes the shop smell , well, like a shop.