Bracket feet by hand (kinda)

[brian zawatsky]

I have to make a base section for a barrister's bookcase that my wife and I found several years ago in a junk shop somewhere between here and Pittsburgh. It was probably made in the 60's, so not antique, but the price was right and the raised panel case sides & beveled glass in the fronts made it an interesting piece.

While tossing around ideas for the base the thought struck me to try some bracket feet, which I've never made before. Still not 100% sure that the look will "fit" the style of the piece, but who cares? If it looks lousy I'll make another one. Anyway, just thought I'd share my process in case anyone is interested.

The stock I used is 6/4 quartersawn white ash, which is hard but works pretty easily. I used several moulding planes to stick the profile, and cut the scalloped edge on the bandsaw.

Drew profile on both ends, rounded over with a jack plane. Cut a rabbet down to the line for the bottom of the foot. I left the lip there because it gave me a point to work to with the round plane and kept me from overshooting my layout line. Cut a groove for the round to index in, and hollowed it out. The I planed off the lip that was left, and cleaned up all the mess with a card scraper that I ground to match the profile. The scraper was a life saver!
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[brian zawatsky]

A pic after scraping, and after the bandsaw. Full disclosure, miters were cut on the table saw :D
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And here are the feet as they will lay out once assembled. I haven't glued the miters together yet. I'm planning on splining them and adding glue blocks to the top & bottom for clamping surfaces.

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[David Myers]

Wow. That looks great.

[Bill McDermott]

Brian, Thanks for the great photo tutorial of how you cut the profile. Those few shots tell the story very well. Turned out great.

[Mark Rainey]

Very nice Brian

[lowell holmes]

OH pshaw, you would have to post that. Now I will have to look for molding planes.:)

[brian zawatsky]

Thanks guys. A fun project so far, and not actually all that difficult. Hardest part is setting up the molding planes properly, they can be finicky.
Mark, how is your clock build going?

[Mark Rainey]

Thanks guys. A fun project so far, and not actually all that difficult. Hardest part is setting up the molding planes properly, they can be finicky.
Mark, how is your clock build going?It is all done Brian. When you get the chance stop by & I will show you it. I did my ogee bracket feet a little different but I think they did it your way 250 years ago.
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[brian zawatsky]

Wow man that is beautiful! I love the string inlay on the front.

[Frederick Skelly]

Brian, Thanks for the great photo tutorial of how you cut the profile. Those few shots tell the story very well. Turned out great.

I agree. Thanks Brian!

[Christopher Charles]

Brian, those feet look great! Thanks for sharing.

[Matt Bickford]

The feet look great. Nice job!

[brian zawatsky]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.
Matt, I’m hoping that if I turn out enough hand-sticked stuff that my wife likes I will be able to justify to her why I need to order a half set of Bickford Hollow and Rounds. As it stands now she would most likely shoot me lol! Nonetheless your work is beautiful.