How To Make Beveled Tapers on the Tablesaw - WOOD magazine

Learn how to make beveled tapers on the tablesaw. This technique involves making a jig but using very little math to figure.

[stevensapp]

I know this is an older video, but having bought a home last year that needed new tapered columns, this video nailed it. I was successfully able to replicate this easy jig and knocked out five columns in one day all with perfect fits. If anyone still monitors this site, I say thanks!

[joeboldo]

Thank you thank you thank you for this simple, effective method and no-nonsense video. I was building a lacewood veneered tapered bungalow column to finish the craftsman bungalow kitchen-dining room remodel for my wife that never got finished when she died 6 years ago. My friend and I used to build intricate furniture for many years but we’ve both been out of it for a while and have lost our patience with math. I was tearing my hair out looking at books and equation charts while my eyes glaze over. Then I found your video and knocked it out quickly. The joints fit perfectly. I didn’t use biscuits and went with the simpler packing tape assembly method instead. There’s plenty of glue surface area on the mitered edges of the 3/4 in. veneered MDF, so we laid it all out on a flat surface with the good veneered faces up and the joints tightly aligned. We ran 3 in. clear packing tape down the length of the joints. Then flipped it all over, glued the v-joints, and then the last two open edges. Then folded it up and taped the last joint by stretching strips of 3 in. masking tape across it. Perfect and efficient.

On a 3 ft column with a taper from 6.5” at top to 10.5 “ at base, the top and bottom surfaces are not level. The top naturally angles in and the bottom angles out. The top is fine because it looks tight from the outside, but the bottom of the column has a gap. So you just have to use a small cove molding around it to cover the gap.

[mambofats]

thx for the video. I used this technique for tapered legs I'm building for my custom pool table. It works perfect...

[michaelaitchison]

Great video. I will use it to build the Limbert umbrella stand. Thanks to James at Kings Fine Woodworking for directions to this video! One thing I could add which might help some is to set your blade angle at 45.1 or 45.2 which will tighten the outer miter cut (the visible side) and loosen the inner which is generally not visible.

[thomasbrovarone]

This jig and advice was the key for me to make 12 tapered, beveled pieces for a bird feeder I'm making for my sister-in-law.
The feeder is in the shape of a lighthouse. 12 pieces at a 15 degree bevel on each side and the 1st one was the same as the last. When all else fails ... search You Tube !

[wb_finewoodworking]

This is by far the best and most useful Wood Magazine video that I’ve watched especially for someone who likes arts and crafts columns and wants to build a Lambert table like the one pictured at the end of the video.

[HibsMax]

Since the top is wider than the bottom, the 4 sides must flare out at an angle. How come the assembly sits flat? Wouldn't there be a small angle on the top and bottom surfaces meaning those surfaces don't lie perfectly flat? Thanks for the video. I am trying to make a pool table light that flares out towards the bottom rather than 90 degrees sides.

[DRP]

If you wanted to, how would you flatten the ends to cover them with a flat lid?

[Frank]

I have a question, at 3:33, when the workpiece is aligned to the 45 on the front of the jig, the narrow part of the taper, then they go to attaching the stops. How is the wide part of the taper on the workpiece aligned to the back of the jig before the stops are placed? Did I miss something?

[BrianSmithbs]

I am struggling with how you measure to get the correct width of the board. So I want to cut up some plywood 3/4 inch and have the final board to the tip of the bevel be 3 inches. How far away does the fence need to be? Or I am going about this wrong?

[ashleywalls]

Why do you need to reposition the end stops?

[Belg]

Can this technique be used with an 8 sided project like a lighthouse?

[todc]

why wouldn't you use a thicker stop block, it just doesn't make any sense.