CABRIOLE LEG & BALL & CLAW FOOT
(For the non-carver)
The definition of a cabriole leg is a leg with two reversing curves in the same plane. Obviously the length of the legs and the curves can vary. I show two below
The two legs above both have ball and claw foot, but this is not a necessity, below I show a Hairy paw foot and a trefoil design.
Unfortunately I do not have a Queen Anne design and other variants to show.
To make a cabriole leg you need a pattern, but because of the different legs and shapes this pattern has to be individualized. In all cases you need wood that is fairly straight grained, receptive to carving and of adequate dimensions. Mahogany, cherry, walnut mesquite and similar woods are all suitable.
To make the legs shown here you will need the following:- A bandsaw a “V-ing” chisel, a straight chisel or preferably a ½” gouge, and a Dremel Tool.
This essay goes through the making of a footstool with Ball and Claw feet and cabriole legs, in this case in African Mahogany. The wood needs to be about 16 inches long and 2 ¾ inches on the side. I have made the appropriate pattern, and you can see it resting on the 4 blocks.I have used the pattern to lay out its shape twice on all 4 blocks. After laying out the pattern on the first side, turn the block and lay out the pattern so the backs of the patterns come together.
You then bandsaw one side, carefully preserving the fragments. These should then be placed in their original positions and taped. It is then possible to bandsaw the other side
.
The upper part of the cabriole leg is left to much later, after the joints to the upper part have been made.
The next step is making the Ball & Claw foot. First draw lines from the foot to the level of the back curve, about 5/16” from each corner. Now using the “V” chisel cut along these lines. It is important to always chisel from high wood to lower wood so that you do not split any wood off. It is important to always follow this rule. If by mischance you do split wood off, use a little crazy glue to reapply the fragment.
It is obvious that although there are four sides, they are paired into two flat sides and two curved sides. The treatment of the claws on all sides is the same but the treatment of the ball is slightly different. This is because more of the ball will show on the front surfaces.
The next stage is to deepen these cuts to over ¼”. Keep the tops of the “V’ chisel parallel with the surface, so that you deepen the edge along a line parallel to a line between the two bottom diagonal corners, this will keep the claws a constant thickness. The claws are now delimited although not shaped. It is now time to turn to shaping the ball.
Here you need a gouge to roughly shape the ball. On the front curved surface this means cutting off the angled surfaces above the balls meridian. On the back surfaces you have to cut in at the top of the ball and fair this cut above and below. Doing the ball it is easier if you imagine a point at the center of the ball and cut away from this in all directions to taper the ball downwards in all directions. It still looks pretty crude like this, but don’t worry about it. Once you have reached this stage all the carving is pretty well finished.
Now you use the Dremel tool with 60 grit sandpaper. Just take it and smooth out the ball. You can also smooth out the sides of the claws and the ankle part above the ball. This should flow smoothly into the ball. It goes very easily and very quick and you will be amazed how quickly the ball takes shape. In one or two places you may have to take your V-tool and deepen the grooves around the talons.
At this point the balls have been roughed out, and apart from smoothing and fairing, and putting in the edges of the talon web they are essentially finished. Now you need to fashion the talons.
Using the Dremel Tool, you need to cut into the claws between ‘knuckles’ 1&2, and 2&3. This indentation should be in the direction of the diagonal of the leg:-
In the case of the back leg where there are no knuckles, this should be at the same height as the other claws. The sides of the claws should also be indented at these heights.Now make sure the claw is a fairly consistent width. The next step is to round off these claws all the way down using the Dremel. The object is to have a fairly sinous claw with rounded knuckles all the way down. it may be necessary to deepen the grooves at certain point on the claws :-
You should also taper the final part of the claw ( where the nail is) to a point , tapering it from side to side and also toward the ball. Now draw the sanding wheel across the upper part of this section to indicate the nail bed.
At this point pencil in a curved line as shown above to indicate the edge of the claw web – see above. Now using the edge of the sanding wheel cut into the ball along this line. You will have to slightly adjust the curve on the ball to fair this in. Apart from a lot of sanding some with a 220 grit wheel and some by hand the ball and claw is finished.
From the time the bandsawing has been done, it normally takes me about 45 minutes for each foot to get to this stage. Final sanding can take much longer.