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To be honest, I don’t get overly ebullient about every DVD we produce – but about this one, well, I’m awfully enthusiastic. Charles Bender (period furniture maker extraordinaire) recorded “Cabriole Legs Simplified” in just one day in our video studio, and almost all the retakes were for what he was saying, not for what he was doing. If we subtract the time spent talking, lunch breaks, etc., Chuck had his sample cabriole leg carved in what I think is less than one hour.

That gives me some hope…that with his instruction I might be able to make a cab leg in less than a day. And that eventually, when I’ve carved hundreds of them like Chuck, I might have it down to two to three hours. I think I see a tea table in my future.

On this DVD, Chuck shows you step by step how to lay out, cut and shape a cabriole leg with a traditional pad foot, using just a handful of tools (both power and hand tools). Plus, in his introduction, he shares a history of the cabriole leg (which I find fascinating).

The copy I got was shipped to our office straight from the duplicator, so right now, “Cabriole Legs Simplified” shows up as “pre-order” at ShopWoodworking.com – but it should be in the warehouse (and shipping to buyers) any day now!

– Megan Fitzpatrick

p.s. Chuck was in town for two days of filming – and because he’s so fast, we were also able to get “Carve a Ball & Claw Foot” done in one day – I’m pretty jazzed about that one, too. But the claws kinda scare me…

p.p.s. ALL our videos are available with a subscription to Shop Class on Demand – six months of access to everything for $49.99 (and right now, the featured preview is for Chuck’s cabriole leg video). It’s a great option if you enjoy watching a ton of video woodworking instruction (or live overseas and want to avoid shipping charges for the DVDs).

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