Tiny table legs

[coryatjohn]

I made this speaker stand from wood I harvested on our property. The legs are about the smallest thing I've ever made but required as much work to make as full sized table legs. I used one board 11" wide and 1" thick for this project and have several tons of nice oak left.

Bits: 1/2" end mill, 1/4 ball" nose, bottom cleaning planar bit. Aspire 9.5

Blanks: 4 finish material, 1 from scrap as a test.
TinyTable5.jpg
Being cut on the indexer
TinyTable4.jpg
One leg sanded, three out of the indexer
TinyTable3.jpg
Finished table (6" tall, 12"x12" top)
TinyTable2.jpg
Underside
TinyTable1.jpg

[don62]

John, made an home-built indexer for my shopbot - am a true novice with the indexer, but excited about what it can do. Have a project to make a large candle holder for our church. My design includes tapered flutes as well as other designs - my challenge is understanding how to draw it - how did you design your tapered flutes? I am getting ready to upgrade from aspire 2.5 to 9.5 because of the indexer capabilities - any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Don

[coryatjohn]

Upgrading to Aspire 9.5 will answer your questions about tapered flutes. I don't believe really old versions like you have would be capable of doing it. To create the flutes, I first used a bottom cleaning bit large enough to cover the width of the area I needed to taper, then used a fluting bit. The bottom cleaning bit running a fluting tool path is the key there. In Aspire 9.5 the preview is amazingly accurate. You'll know you're in the right ballpark once you see it emerge in the preview. Unfortunately, the preview isn't perfect and you'll have to experiment with the actual bits to get everything right. I use cheap 4x4's for experiments. They work great and are plentiful.

[don62]

I agree that it is time to upgrade my aspire - it is a fantastic program - i have be stalling because each upgrade ir $400 - very reasonable when i go from 2.5 to 9.5, but steep when if i go from 9.5 to 10. They mentioned 10 as a tease for the denver event in october, but when i contacted them, they said there were no current plans for 10. That being said, i think 9.5 advances indexing enough to get the upgrade.

i think i am beginning to see how to put flutes on a taped leg, just need to start designing.

btw - in that category of ‘it never fails’: i recall the suggestion to use 4x4 as test pieces, so when you suggested that, i hustled to the local lowes and lo and behold they no longer stock the untreat 4x4 - bummer. Will try another building supply on monday

appreciate your assistance, i know i will be asking more questions
thanks
don

[coryatjohn]

I got mine at HD.

Edit: I just checked HD's website and they indeed still sell untreated 8' 4x4's for $14. In the new Aspire they have a gadget for rounding a square blank that is quite excellent.

[don62]

Perfect - hd is just a simple 57 mile drive from here. Maybe the local ace or local building supply store. Again there is always amzon prime....

[barrowj]

John,

I was wondering if you would mind sharing your file of the legs, I have had a hard time wrapping my head around this process although I have been able to would out the basic of using my indexer....

Joe

[coryatjohn]

You'll need 9.0+ to open the Aspire file. It's pretty obvious how to draw the tapered flutes once you start working with the gadget.

[chiloquinruss]

Here's a pretty good tutorial and explanation of the steps required. Also there additional tut's on the Vectric website. Russ

http://www.222artisans.com/Rotary/RotaryYaxis.html

[barrowj]

Thanks for the info Russ, I'll check it out but sometimes I learn much better with a real example.

John, I have Aspire 9.5 if you fell like sharing. My email is bravesoul1950@gmail.com just in case you wish to contact me. I won't necessarilycut your design but would problem figure out what you did so I can do something similar but different.

Joe