Tapering the Legs
2012.11.04
The legs will taper from 1–1/8″ down to 5/8″, over a span of about 18″. Only the two inside faces are tapered, leaving the outside corners vertical. I decided to make a template from poster board to mark out the taper.
I sawed some of the waste, then used the jointer and smooth planes to finish the taper. Then the process was repeated on the other inside face.
One of the legs had a noticeable defect called an end check. This open split in the wood is usually caused by the rapid kiln drying process. Fortunately, I planned ahead when deciding which faces would be outside or inside. So tapering removed this check from the finished leg.
Mortising Legs