Cabinet - Bracket Feet

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O
NLINE
E
XTRAS
B
RACKET
F
EET
racket feet have just the right com-
bination of strength and elegance.
The thick blocks provide plenty of
support for a project like the blanket
chest in
Woodsmith
No. 145. But the
graceful contours of the faces and the
cur ves of the scalloped profiles keep
the feet from looking too heavy. All in
all, they’re pretty impressive.
On the other hand, if you’ve never
made bracket feet, it’s easy to be a
bit intimidated by all these cur ves.
Don’t be. They don’t require nearly
as much handwork as you might
expect — most of the shaping is
done at the table saw and band saw.
FROM ROUGH TO READY
. Bracket feet
start out as 1
1
/
2
"-thick blanks. But as
you can see in the margin, I glue
two
3
/
4
"-thick pieces together, so I
don’t have to buy 1
1
/
2
"-thick stock.
The blanks are then cut oversized
(4
1
/
2
" x 16"), so the two halves of
each foot can be cut from one blank.
All of the work of shaping the face
profile is done while the blanks are
oversized. Then they’ll be cut in half
and mitered, and the cur ved scallop
will be cut (see the pattern on the
next page). Finally the halves of
each front foot will be glued together.
Roughing Out the Face Profile
{
Bracket feet look
like they were cut
from thick blocks
of wood, but these
blanks were made
with two pieces of
3
/
4
"-thick stock.
With the blanks in hand, you’re ready
to create the S-shaped profile on the
face of each blank. All the rough work
for this is done at the table saw, start-
ing with a simple cove (Steps 1-3).
COVE SET-UP
. A cove is cut by push-
ing a board across the table saw at
an angle, guided by a pair of wood
fences. If you’ve never cut a cove
before, don’t worr y. Steps 1 and 2
will show you exactly how to set up
your table saw. And cutting the cove
is done in multiple passes, “nib-
bling” away only
1
/
16
" of material
with each pass (Step 3).
To find the correct angle of the
fences, I first mark the entr y and
exit points of the blade when it’s
raised to its full height, which is
5
/
8
"
for this cove (Step 1). Then I make a
posterboard “frame” (with a 1
3
/
4
"-
wide opening and a
3
/
4
" border) and
Blade tooth
exit
Raise
blade "
Second
fence
%/8
NOTE:
Lower blade
below table
surface
1"
Blade tooth
entry
4"
Align
template
with marks
on tape
16"
Blank
for
feet
Cut
cove in
multiple
passes
Tape
NOTE:
View from
back of saw
#/4"
First
fence
). Then
using tape, mark where the teeth of
the blade enter and exit the table.
final depth of the cove (
%/8"
inside window (the cove’s
final width). Then angle the template
so the long edges touch the marks.
#/4"
3
With both fences in place, set the
!/16"
!/16"
increments and
repeat until cove is
%/8"
deep.
From
Woodsmith
Magazine
1
©2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reser ved.
B
#/4
!/2
1
To begin, raise the blade to the
2
Next, make a template with a
1
high and make a pass.
Raise blade in
blade
angle it until it touches the entr y
and exit points (Step 2). Now the
first fence can be clamped in place.
To position the second fence, sim-
ply clamp it to the table with one of
the blanks sandwiched in between.
(The blank should slide smoothly.)
CUT COVE
. At this point, you’re
ready to cut the coves (Step 3). Start
with the blade set
1
/
16
" above the
table, and don’t remove any more
than
1
/
16
" in one pass. Stop when the
cove is at its full height (
5
/
8
").
MAKE TEMPLATE
. Now before you do
any more shaping, it’s a good idea to
make a template. (As you can see in
the photo below, I made mine out of
hardboard.) The pattern below is
the only one you need for the feet.
The cur ve on the end will help you
create the face profile. (The scal-
loped profile will be cut later.)
With your template in hand, set it
on the ends of each blank and align it
with the cove. Then trace around the
template, as shown in the photo
below. Now you’ve got a good guide
for what the profile will look like and
where to remove the waste.
FINISHED WIDTH
. The next step is to
begin removing the waste by trim-
ming the edges of the blanks (Step
4). With the profile already drawn on
the ends, all you need to do is set the
fence so the blade aligns with the
profile lines. (You’ll end up trimming
about
1
/
4
" or so from each edge.)
COMPLETE COVE
. Now you’re ready to
elongate one edge of the cove. You
could do this with a rasp or a file, but
I removed most of the waste much
quicker with a
1
/
2
"-wide stacked
dado set, as you can see in Step 5.
To remove the waste, you’ll need
to adjust both the angle and the
height of the blade, but there aren’t
any hard and fast dimensions to
work with here. The best way to set
up the saw is to crouch behind the
saw and eye down the saw blade
(with the blank behind the blade so
you can see the profile.)
Don’t attempt to cut right to the
line. The idea is just to get close
enough so the final shaping doesn’t
take a lot of time (or effort). And be
ready to make several passes, reset-
ting the fence and the angle of the
blade with each pass.
ROUNDOVER
. After the cove is com-
pleted, the roundover located on the
top, outside corner can be roughed
out. Again I used the table saw to
remove much of the waste, but this
time, I used a regular saw blade tilt-
ed 45°, as shown in Step 6.
END VIEW
END VIEW
FIRST:
Draw
profile on ends
NOTE:
Set blade
to waste side of
profile lines
NOTE:
Blade tilted 45º
SECON
D
:
Tr
i
m waste from
both sides
Waste
Top,
outside
corner
Profile
Remove waste
in multiple passes
Dado blade
ends of each blank (see photo
below), rip them to final width (4"),
trimming waste from each edge.
removing waste with dado blade
set at angle. Adjust rip fence and dado
blade between passes as needed.
each blank can be trimmed. To do
this, tilt a regular saw blade 45º. Then
sneak up on the final layout line.
Bracket Foot Pattern
7"
Scalloped
profile
!/4"
grid
Face
profile
4"
NOTE:
See full size pattern on last page of this article.
{
Hardboard makes a good, reusable
template for the bracket feet profiles,
see pattern at left. To position the
template on the blank, just line it up
with the cove you’ve already cut.
©2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reser ved.
2
From
Woodsmith
Magazine
5
Next, extend shape of cove by
6
Now the top, outside corner of
4
With the profile laid out on the
Face Profile: Clean-Up
Up to this point, all the work at the
table saw has been to get the face of
the blanks to rough shape. Now it’s
time to clean up all the unwanted
shoulder lines and saw marks left by
the saw blade so that you end up with
a smooth cur ve on the face profile.
This is where the handwork of
making bracket feet comes in, and
you’ll find there’s really not much to
it. Each blank only has a little mate-
rial left to remove, and the profiles
drawn on the ends will guide you.
But don’t be too critical. The bracket
feet end up far enough apart so that
no one will notice if the profiles
aren’t exactly identical.
OUTSIDE CURVES
. The areas that
need the most shaping are the out-
side (convex) cur ves at the top and
bottom of the feet. I shaped them
with a block plane set to take a thin
shaving, as shown in Step 7. (But
Block plane
Sandpaper
wrapped
around
plumbing
insulation
Smooth
outside curves
with plane
Sand all
ridges and
saw marks
plane any hard lines, removing
enough waste to create a gentle curve
that matches the layout on the ends.
away, smooth out the curve using
a piece of sandpaper wrapped around
a short length of plumbing insulation.
you can also get the job done with a
rasp or a Surform-type plane, which
looks like a block plane but works
like a rasp.) Start by smoothing out
the noticeable shoulders. Then sim-
ply keep taking thin shavings, fol-
lowing the profile drawn on the end.
INSIDE CURVES
. The inside cur ves
are even easier. All you need to do is
sand or scrape them (Step 8). I
wrapped sandpaper around a length
of plumbing insulation. It provides
just enough support
and
flexibility
to sand the cur ve efficiently.
Miter & Spline Joint
Now that the profile of each blank is
complete, they can be cut into indi-
vidual pieces and one end of each
front
foot piece can be mitered.
LABEL BLANKS
. But before you get
started, it’s a good idea to label the
pieces, as shown in the drawing
below. For each front foot, you want
to glue the ends you cut apart back
together — this time joining them
with splined miters.
There are two reasons for doing it
this way. For one thing, the grain on
the faces of the halves will match up
and “wrap around” the foot. Plus,
since you have already done the
final shaping, this technique will
ensure the profile of the pieces
match as closely as possible. (You
may still need to do some light sand-
ing after they’re glued together.)
MITER FRONT PIECES
. With the parts
labeled and cut apart, the next step
is to miter one end of each front foot
piece, as shown in Step 9. The nice
thing here is you don’t have to
worr y about an exact length. That
will be taken care of when you cre-
ate the scallop profile later. But I still
added a stop block to the auxiliar y
miter gauge fence so the piece
wouldn’t shift as it was being
pushed across the blade.
After mitering the pieces, I low-
ered the blade and repositioned the
stop block to cut a kerf for a spline
(Step 10). These splines are added
mostly to keep the pieces aligned
when you glue them together.
BACK FEET
. Because a project like
the blanket chest is usually against a
bed or wall, only the front feet are
mitered. The back feet are simply
supported with a small triangular
brace in back (refer to Step 17).
Stop
block
FIRST:
Cut blanks
in half and
label pieces
Kerf for
spline
a.
!/8"
Miter these ends
for best profile
and grain match
Front
foot
Hardboard
spline
NOTE:
Leave blanks at
least 7 " long
#/8"
!/4
SECOND:
Miter two blanks
for front feet
(Steps 9 & 10)
the blanks in half. (See drawing
at left.) Then miter the four pieces
that will be used for the front feet.
each mitered end for a spline
to help align the pieces. Then cut a
1
/
8
"
hardboard spline to fit in the kerf.
From
Woodsmith
Magazine
3
©2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reser ved.
7
On the blank’s outside curves,
8
Once the ridges have been planed
9
With the profile complete, cut all
10
Now cut a
3
/
8
"-deep kerf in
Scalloped Profile
Template
NOTE:
Back
feet are
mirrored
Before you can glue the feet together,
there’s still one more profile to cut. It’s
cut on the end of the blank (instead
of on the face), and the work is done
at the band saw and drill press
(instead of the table saw). But the first
thing to do is lay out the profile.
LAY OUT PROFILES
. You’ve already
made the template for this cur ve,
refer to the pattern on page 2. But
this time, the front and back legs are
slightly different. The front feet are
7" long overall (Step 11), while the
back feet are only 6
1
/
2
" (Step 12).
For both feet, I laid out a line across
the back side of each blank and then
aligned the template with this line.
With the back feet, the thing to
keep in mind is that they’re
not
iden-
tical. With their contoured faces,
they’re mirrored images of each
other, so make sure you end up with
both a right and a left back foot.
SHAPE PROFILE
. These profiles are
easier to create than the face pro-
files. I roughed out the profile at the
band saw (Step 13). Then I sanded
as much as possible with a drum
sander (Step 14) before finishing
them with a little hand sanding.
F ront
foot
L ay out
line 7” from
tip of miter
Back
foot
Lay out line
6 " from end
of blank
!/2
pattern onto back side of the
mitered pieces. Position the template
so the feet will end up 7" long.
12
Lay out scallop on each back
foot blank so it will end up
" long. Flip template for second
foot so back pieces are mirrored.
!/2
Waste
Drum
sander
Cut to waste
side of line
13
Cut out scalloped shape on
each foot, sand the scalloped
profile to the layout lines, using a drum
sander in the drill press.
Foot Assembly
Now that the profiles are complete,
the feet are ready to be assembled.
FRONT FEET
. To join the halves of the
front feet, I wanted to use clamps,
but there’s no good place to position
them. So I glued small clamping
blocks to the top and bottom edges
parallel with the mitered end. And to
make sure I could remove them eas-
ily, I used plywood for the blocks
and liquid hide glue to attach them,
as shown in the margin photo. The
plywood can be split fairly easily
between the bottom two plies, and
then by applying a little hot water to
the plywood, you can loosen the
bond of the hide glue. Then the foot
can be scraped clean, and the spline
can be trimmed flush.
BACK FEET
. To provide plenty of sup-
por for the back feet, I cut small tri-
angular braces and glued and
screwed them to the back of the
feet, as shown in Step 17 below.
W
FIRST:
Glue
plywood clamp blocks
parallel with miters
Hardboard
spline
FIRST:
Remove
plywood above
bottom ply
Back
foot
Bracket
foot brace
{
These clamping
blocks are ply-
wood so they’ll
split easily along
the plies. And
they’re glued in
place with hide
glue, which can
be loosened with
a little hot water.
SECOND:
Glue two
halves
together
SECOND:
Pare away waste
and sand smooth
#8 x 1 "
Fh screw
!/4
ing blocks to the pieces par-
allel to the mitered ends (see margin).
Then glue halves together.
pry away at bottom ply. Then
loosen glue with hot water, pare away
ply with chisel, and sand smooth.
and drill counterbored shank
holes. (Use handscrew to hold brace.)
Then glue and screw to foot.
©2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reser ved.
4
From
Woodsmith
Magazine
11
Transfer scalloped part of the
6
both the front and back feet
using the band saw, staying to the
waste side of the layout line.
14
To complete the shaping of
15
Using hide glue, attach clamp-
16
To remove clamping blocks,
17
For back foot, make a brace
Bracket Foot Pattern
Woodsmith No.139 - Bedside Chest
No. 145 - Paneled Blanket Chest
Copyright 2003, August Home Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.
4 "
WASTE
WASTE
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