What's Cool About Cabriole Legs

Dave on the cabriole leg class, it was really cool how you got that huge chunk of wood and from it almost kind of hand-carved this shape. And I know that cabriole legs are pretty near and dear to your woodworking here. What is it about the cabriole leg that you like so much? Well, there's a couple things. Number one would be it has a very long pedigree.

Goes all the way back to China and even the ancient Egyptians had a version of the cabriole leg. And of course, it made its way from their into Europe and from Europe into the colonies. And everybody sort of put their mark on it all the way along. So there's as many cabriole legs as there are makers of cabriole legs out there. And when we talk about, so cabriole leg is kind of a big category, right?

And then within that, there are specific types of like a queen and baroque, Yeah. they're further subdivisions of cabriole. Yeah, the one thing they have in common is that S curve, you know, curving out and then curving back in. And I think from what we were talking about earlier, it's the curvy part that also kind of intrigues you, right? Yeah, I mean, we're so used to everything we do is straight lines, square edges and this is a chance to get out of the box, so to speak.

And yet, it's a very simple technique, when you boil it down and take it apart. It's not that hard to do and make a nice elegant curved leg that has some real shape to it. curvy, almost like you'd say, although this really isn't curvy, but it's... A lot of time with the rasp. Yeah.

And it is pretty neat too agree with you that it's... If you and I started with the same template, we probably wouldn't end up with the same legs, right? Right. Because the manner in which I shaped with the rasp. And how your eye was pleasing your eye is different than what is pleasing my eye.

So do you think when people look at antique furniture and they know makers, do you think they can look at cabriole legs? You know it's, 100 years from now somebody is going to say, Oh, that's a Munkittrick, you know, is it? Do you think it's that distinct on older furniture? Oh, absolutely, I mean he museum curators know who the maker is, they can identify by the leg style. Really, like a fingerprint?

Exactly. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Well, that's, it's great back information on the Cabriole legs and like I said, a great job on the class. So thanks for the backstory and the information.

You bet.