Making 4" X 4" feet?

[Brian Penning]

Best way to make 4" X 4" X 4" high cabinet base feet?
Thought of gluing up a couple of pieces and applying a veneer over them but concerned that expansion would be a factor.
TIA for any and all replies.

[alex grams]

I did a similar item with a bathroom vanity and some walnut feet. I just took some planed down walnut, glued about 4 sheets together in a block and cut it to shape. The rough block came out about 5"x4"x4"

Is there a reason you would want to veneer the feet? Are they THAT visible that they need to be covered with a top piece? Or are you trying to match an exotic wood veneer you have used elsewhere on the project and the cost of solid wood of the same species as the veneer is prohibitive?

[Brian Penning]

The feet are like in the photo. Not sure if I want the gluelines to show on the sides.
Yours came out pretty good though.

http://www.urbanhabitatstyle.com/india_ch/carmel_buffet_dark.jpg

[Gary Herrmann]

Try looking for some dry turning blocks of appropriate size if you want to use solid wood.

[Jamie Buxton]

Best way to make 4" X 4" X 4" high cabinet base feet?
Thought of gluing up a couple of pieces and applying a veneer over them but concerned that expansion would be a factor.
TIA for any and all replies.

Like you, I don't like seeing glue-ups.

Veneer is so thin that it expands and contracts with whatever its substrate does. You can glue it to solid wood, which does move, and you can glue it to plywood, which doesn't. That said, I'd be hesitant to put it on feet. Because the veneer is so thin, the corners will have to be completely square -- no rounding allowed. Second, those sharp corners will be subject to dinging by brooms or other floor-cleaning devices, which usually aren't wielded with great precision.

You can use 4/4 lumber to make these feet by putting one piece of lumber on each face, and mitering the corners together. We're all accustomed to grain pattern shifts at the corner, so the seam is not noticeable.

[Jamie Buxton]

The feet are like in the photo. Not sure if I want the gluelines to show on the sides.


I don't think that piece has 4x4 solid feet. It looks to me like the horizontal trim applied 5" off the floor is just fastened to the face of the piece. The "leg" is actually a continuation of the "frame" above the horizontal trim. Look closely at some of the related pieces from that supplier. You can see the continuity of grain pattern in the wood going past the trim, and in some you can see the edge of the 4 quarter lumber in the "foot".

[Conrad Fiore]

Brian,
Are those feet, or are they part of the case sides and stiles that make up the "feet"?

[Jeff Monson]

Those appear to be part of the face framing, if you have already gone past that point, I would use 4/4 stock and a mitre joint.

[Brian Penning]

Well here's a different angle below. I felt that this was a cabinet carcass sitting on a base, hence have been constructing it that way.
Just to hijack my own thread -since there are sliding doors and therefore no shelf support possible in the shelf front, there must be vertical dividers underneath the shelf at the place where the doors overlap, no?
That's a lot of books.
This buffet is 6 feet wide.

http://www.classichomefurnishings.com/bmz_cache/4/43620b731769a1464be440c603d6b5f2.image.750x611.jpg

[Conrad Fiore]

Brian,
To me it looks like that is an applied bead molding around the top and bottom. The feet still look like they are made up from the face frame and sides with the applied bead making it look like it is a case on a base. And yes, I would think that there are vertical dividers behind the door stiles.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you'd rather not have vertical dividers behind the sliding doors, you have lots of space to avoid it. You could have a "shelf" below the books that is almost 4" tall. That much height can make a very stiff shelf. You could make it as a torsion box, to save weight.