David Boeff Furniture Maker: Townsend Kneehole Bureau Blocked Ogee Bracket Feet Part 1

Before I get started on the Ogee bracket feet, I forgot to make the molding/cockbeading around the door in the knee hole.

It consists of a 1 1/2 inch piece of cockbeading on the bottom which is cut out to match the door and the same for one side and the top.

The left side was a special piece with cockbeading and a 1/4 inch door stop. So the hinges will be on the right.

With that out of the way I can now concentrate on the blocked ogee bracket feet.
I did a bit of research on the feet since I have not made this style before. There are a number of ways to make them. This is the method I selected.

I made one for practice to show what the finished one would look like.

I started by making lots of templates from the drawings that I have.

I made a thickness template of the blocked part and the thinner part of the foot. That was so I would know how much to carve away in the front to make the blocking.
The carved portion of the foot is 1 inch thick along with the side foot. The blocked portion of the front foot is 1 1/2 inches thick.

The small thickness template is used to determine how much to carve away on the front blocked feet. It is also used for the side feet since there is no blocking or carving on the side feet.

This template is used to bandsaw out the basic pattern.

The large thickness template (1 1/2) is traced on to the side of the front foot. This is the thickest part of the foot.

There are 2 ogee curves to bandsaw the side curve and the front curve. Just like a cabriolet leg you have to tape the cutoff back on and then cut the other side. This will be clear in the later pictures and the video.

Once they are cut out I will trace the side area which needs to be removed to create the blocking.

First Step is to cut out the curve (ogee) on the front and then tape it back on.

I taped the cutoffs back on and mounted it on this stand which keeps the foot perpendicular to the table and parallel to band saw blade. I made this stand years ago for making bracket feet, the pattern was in a magazine. The foot is attached with a screw through the back.

I have the large template traced on the front of the foot.

Now to band saw it out the second ogee curve.

The matching side foot is cut out in a similar matter only using the smaller pattern on the front since there is no blocking on the side foot.

Now that I have two halves cut out it is time to carve. You see that I have traced the smaller template to the front of the thicker piece. This is how I know how much material to carve off.

I will put the front foot under the bureau and trace the molding on top of the foot so that I get the shape correct while carving.

I use the front template to trace a line where the blocking begins. I could also have used the back template to trace the same line and little button on the bottom.

You can see I traced the molding curve from the bureau bottom on to the top and used the square to make a line where I want to stop carving.

This is what we want it to look like when we are done.

I used a couple of screws from the back to attach it to a board that I clamp to my bench for carving.

I set in with my 1 inch #3 since it follows the curve nicely. I use a 1/4 inch #5 to set in around the little button on the bottom.

There is a lot of material to carve off in the beginning so you can take some pretty big cuts.

I am making some progress here. I use a number of different chisels, but you can do it all with a #3, #5 and a flat chisel.

I use one of my small templates to check the depth along the back. The line that I drew on the front is my reference on the front. I am about half way here. You can see the line on the side as well.

Well I am just about there with this part of the carving. I am smoothing out some of the bumps here taking small shavings.

I can also use files to smooth out the bumps, when I am done I can scrape it and sand it to get it to a finish surface.

Now I have to round over the blocking. You want a smooth transition from the lower part to the upper part. I am using a 1 inch #3 here, but I could use a flat chisel.

Once I get close to the top line I will use a file to finish rounding over the blocking. I carve the veloute in the button with a small V chisel but you could use a small #9 vainer.

Once the carving is complete it put a 45 degree miter on the edge with a sled that made that cuts right to the edge. This makes it easy to line up where you want the cut to be. I put a 45 degree line on the top of the foot and line it up with the edge of the sled.

Then I make the cut. Keeping my fingers away from the blade. Again there is a small screw holding the foot in place from the under side.

I glue up the two halves. I precondition the end grain on the miter by sizing it with glue and let it dry. This prevents the glue from being absorbed into the end grain and weakening the joint. I use blue and green tape to hold it together when I do glue it. The finished foot will have glue blocks in the back with alternating grain. I show this in the next video and post.