Step-by-Step: Making a Cabriole Leg

One technique that is often intimidating for beginners is the making of a cabriole leg. The cabriole leg is actually quite simple to make if you follow the correct sawing sequence.

The knees and feet on adjacent sides of the blank should be pointing toward each other on the front corner and away from each other on the back of the leg. Make joints such as mortises on the back of the leg before sawing the curves because it is much easier to cut joints while the material is square.

Saw the straight lines first. It is important to align the two crosscuts on the top of the foot, so use the rip fence to space the cuts an equal distance from the bottom of the leg.

Use the rip fence and a stop to make the rip cuts parallel to the edge on the top of the leg.

Saw the bottom of the foot. After removing the piece, rotate the leg and replace the removed piece so that you can continue to use the pattern that you cut off. Hold the pattern in place while making the cut.

It is advantageous to be able to keep the waste in place on the blank because the pattern is drawn there. Do it with a hinge cut. Make the cut as usual, but leave about 1/16 inch or 1/8 inch of material; this is the hinge.

The hinge allows the waste to flex so you can withdraw the blade.

After making all of the long cuts, saw through the hinge and remove the waste. The completed leg is shown here.

This article is excerpted from "The New Complete Guide To The Band Saw"