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I would like a 3.5" leg but only have 1" lumber

2K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  Gopher 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I am working on a desk and want to use spalted maple for the legs. Ideally, they would be about 3.5", but I only have 1" lumber. I am planning on the legs having a taper, so I can just miter the edges and make a hollow 3.5" leg, but I am afraid that 4 1" pieces laminated together will look odd. Does anyone have any pictures of a leg build like this or any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
I am building a bench right now out of elm; the legs are ~3" square but the lumber I have is less than 1" thick; I laminated 3 pieces together and then glued a thin slice of elm to the glue line sides of the legs; it looks good and looks like the legs are made of 3" square lumber…
 
#4 ·
I know that I have seen legs laminated together before on here, but I'm curious to hear what some of the experienced LJ's have to say. I'm about to come upon this same issue. Anything other than 1 inch boards takes an act of congress to get around here.
 
#5 ·
I've done it with walnut before, actually just finishing up a coffee table w/ 2.5" legs made from 3 1" pieces of lumber. They turn out pretty well, and the only place you notice something is on the taper. . Im just worried w/ spalted maple, it will look really odd with definite hard line stops where two pieces are glued together.
 
#7 ·
Could you just get some spalted maple veneer to cover the side if it came out bad? I'm planning a project using red oak (or cherry if the wife will give me the extra money :) ) doing the same thing - laminating the legs. Veneer was my fall back if the two sides didn't look right when I was done. Not sure if spalted maple veneer is even available though. I suppose Google could tell you….

-Brian
 
#8 ·
I would agree on the spalted maple perhaps looking a bit odd at the glue lines. Is it possible to use a different wood, or non spalted maple? I'm sure you are set on it on your mind.

Whenever I come upon these situations in my head during a build, I take a step back and really think about what would look best compared to what I previously had in mind. Sometimes the original idea was best, but just takes more time to do. More often then not, I come up with a better solution that looks better in the end.

I'd say hollow legs would look the best, but you have yourself some work with mitered and tapered legs. Good luck
 
#9 ·
If you look through my projects, every table I made has laminated legs. It works well. My only tip would be cut them a tad long at first. Focus on getting one edge COMPLETELY square. Ride that face against your tablesaw fence to trim the uneven side.
3.5" may exceed your TS capacity though, in that case you can run it through a planer.
 
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