Secret mitered dovetails on bracket feet? Any photos or setup info?

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Just got back from the Metropolitan museum in NYC and they have an early 1790's chest of drawers set up in an "exploded" display...very nice I might add. I have several books showing case structure on early American furniture but I had never realized or seen the makeup of the bracket feet. The example they had was laid out in that nice ogee style and it had the coolest joint I have ever seen. It was a mitered joint with hidden dovetails along the miter. Upon some searching I have seen it labeled as a secret mitered dovetail. I unfortunately did not have my camera with me while at the museum. I was wondering if anyone had some pictures of some bracket feet with these hidden dovetails in the miter, and/or could offer some insight how one would even begin to approach this joint. It was truly a work of art!!!

[Charlie Buchanan]

Just got back from the Metropolitan museum in NYC and they have an early 1790's chest of drawers set up in an "exploded" display...very nice I might add. I have several books showing case structure on early American furniture but I had never realized or seen the makeup of the bracket feet. The example they had was laid out in that nice ogee style and it had the coolest joint I have ever seen. It was a mitered joint with hidden dovetails along the miter. Upon some searching I have seen it labeled as a secret mitered dovetail. I unfortunately did not have my camera with me while at the museum. I was wondering if anyone had some pictures of some bracket feet with these hidden dovetails in the miter, and/or could offer some insight how one would even begin to approach this joint. It was truly a work of art!!!

The Complete Dovetail by Ian Kirby (Linden Publishing) has directions and step by step photos for secret miter dovetail. Looks like you make appropriately sized rabbets on each board--both pin and tail boards. Then lay out pins, rough cut the miter on the rabbet to gain some clearance, saw and clean up the pins, and mark tails from the pins. Finish the tails the same way then carefully refine the miters to fit. If you are looking at an ogee foot then you would need to plane the ogee shape after finishing the joint. I've never tried one but it seems like a lot of ways to go astray. I've seen half-blind dovetail joints on ogee feet but never secret miter. But I guess that's why it's a secret dovetail miter.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Don't know much about mitered dovetail joints on feet; but in general, they look like this (http://sawdustmaking.com/woodjoints/dovetails.htm) internally. Search for "Working Housed and Mitered," about half way down the page. And here's Jeff Gorman's page on making a Secret Mitre Dovetail Joint (http://www.amgron.clara.net/secretmitre30.html).

Pam

[greg Forster]

Allan Breed has a blog "Mitred Dovetails" on his web site with lots of photos on the cutting the dovetails.

[David Keller NC]

Rick - Don't let this dissuade from trying these, it's a fun and challenging joint to cut. But full-blind mitered dovetails on period bracket feet are very, very rare. Most often, you will see bracket feet on period american antiques that are simply a glued miter with small blocks glued to the back side of the joint to provide extra strength. Occasionally, and more often in the South and outside urban centers, you will see reinforcements on the back of bracket or ogee feet that use combinations of nails and backer blocks, and sometimes a sliding dovetail will be cut into the inside of both members of the foot, with the male dovetails cut into a "corner" board. This last method is probably the best from a structural point of view because it allows a large surface area with which to attach the foot to the case.

But more often than not, the damage to ogee & bracket feet on a period piece are at the bottom from rot/being slid across the floor, and splitting horizontally across the foot face from the backer blocks constraining wood movement.

[Frank Drew]

I believe secret mitered dovetails were more commonly done in England than here in the States. Some people still do them, but they're rare. They're a special category of hot lick, because once assembled no one can tell that's what it is.