If you like woodworking, but are short on space, consider buying a good quality lathe. With practice, you can learn to do amazing things with a lathe.
Take wood bar stools, for instance. These can be made almost entirely with your lathe, including the seat. Start with a simple design and then tackle more complex turning projects.
To make tapered legs, all you have to do is offset the bottom of the leg. Because it is not centered on the pin, it will wobble, so you need to take care when you start rough gouging. Nip away at the wood slowly rather than trying to take it off in big chunks. Also, you will have to set your chisel rest a little further away from the material than is normally safe, so take extra precautions as you work.
By the time you have completed four sets of legs for your wooden bar stools, you will be a virtual expert at turning tapered legs. If you like, you can put the legs back on the lathe and add some decorative detailing. Instead of making a dead straight taper, try adding a gentle bulge to give it a less rigid look.
Don’t forget that your legs are going to be inserted into dowl holes on the bottom of your seat. Turn these carefully, stopping to check the diameter with your calipers regularly. Don’t hurry at this. Remember, if they diameter is a little ‘fat, ‘ you can always trim it down, but if it’s too loose, you can’t add timber to it.
Now turn your stretchers. You can make them cylindrical, but they look much nicer if they are tapered at the ends. Put your calipers to good use here and check the diameters of the ends against each other. Then the stretchers will all look uniform.
Now that you have finished all of your turnings, you are at the hardest stage of construction. Since the legs aren’t perpendicular to the seat, you will have to first figure out what angle they are going to be at. A safe way to do this is to make a full scale drawing and work from that. Then, when you know the angle, make a jig for your drill press. Don’t forget to make some trial holes in some scrap wood first.
As with anything, the secret to woodworking is practice. Set yourself modest goals at first and then tackle the more advanced projects. Before you know it, you will be making modern bar stools to rival the best!
