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Forge Table – #6 Turning the legs

Got some time at the lathe today and here's what happened:

Four turned legs

Took me almost an hour per leg, but the last one went quicker than the first couple, so there was progress. Most of the work was done with the skew, but a little with a thumbnail gouge and some with a domed scraper.

Then it was time to bore holes for the stretchers. I marked a center in the worst side of each leg, and drilled with a brace and a half-inch auger bit until I heard the little tschick of the lead screw popping out the back side, then I finished off with a spoon bit, which leaves a much cleaner exit hole. Quicker than unclamping the piece, flipping it over, and boring in from the other side.

Auger bit drilling into a leg, with another brace with a spoon bit laying close at hand

I also started to round off a couple stretchers from some pine I had leftover from a bookcase. Had two pieces that were long enough and about ¾ inch square. I got as far as rounding them off a pretty even 11/16. Tomorrow I'll taper the ends down to a half and test fit everything. There's a little slop where the legs go into the table-top so I can use the stretchers to splay them just a little, making the table more stable and look a little better.

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