PAD FOOT SLIPPER FOOT The most familiar foot of the To me, the slipper foot is the three, the pad foot has plenty most successful design for of variations. In the simplest the bottom of a cabriole leg, and most common version the especially when the arrises 3 rim of the foot is ⁄4 in. to 1 in. on the leg are retained and off the floor and its diameter gracefully end at the point is just under the size of the of the foot. There’s a blend leg blank. A competent 18th- of soft curves and defined century turner easily could edges that just works. This have produced it in less than particular foot design was 5 minutes, perhaps explaining taken from a Newport tea its prevalence. This is my table in the Pendleton House interpretation of a typical New collection at the Rhode Island England pad foot. School of Design Museum. 48 FINE WOODWORKING W270BR.indd 48 7/3/18 10:24 AM A step-by-step guide to creating three distinct period feet for the cabriole leg BY STEVE BROWN One Leg, Three Feet n the furniture making program at North Bennet Street School, students usually find inspiration for Itheir projects in books from our extensive library. They’ll find many examples of period pieces, but SLIPPER FOOT TRIFID FOOT they’ll also find more contemporary work. What they won’t find is any lack of possibilities. Sometimes limit- To me, the slipper foot is the The trifid foot is similar to the ing their options is the hard part. If a furniture maker most successful design for slipper foot in the way the back is inspired by the cabriole leg, for example, they still the bottom of a cabriole leg, line sweeps inward from the have to decide what kind of foot to put on it. There are a lot of options. especially when the arrises ankle to the floor. And like the To clarify a few of them, I will focus here on three on the leg are retained and other feet, the trifid’s plan-view common feet for the cabriole leg: a turned pad foot, gracefully end at the point pattern consists of an outer line a slipper foot, and a trifid foot. All three share some of the foot. There’s a blend indicating the edge at the top basic steps in layout and execution. For each I’ve pro- of soft curves and defined of the foot, and an inner line vided a side-profile pattern of the whole leg and a edges that just works. This indicating the footprint where plan-view pattern of the foot, which you can trace particular foot design was it meets the floor. This trifid onto the bottom of the blank. These two patterns, taken from a Newport tea design is based on an 18th- which embody the sophistication of 18th-century fur- table in the Pendleton House century Philadelphia Queen Anne niture design, are used to create three-dimensional collection at the Rhode Island side chair. It is one of the most sculptural feet in a way that is surprisingly simple. School of Design Museum. elegant trifid foot designs on an The turned pad foot is essentially a flattened oval- American piece. shaped block of wood that rests on a disk or pad. The pad foot is sometimes referred to as a Dutch foot or spoon foot. The slipper foot, which was popular in the Queen Anne period, is aesthetically spare and a very elegant solution to the cabriole leg. The three-toed paw or trifid foot has animal-like toes and is found on many traditional furniture pieces. I refer to its three divided or cleft elements as toes be- cause the other name for the trifid is a Drake’s foot, suggesting that it resembles a duck’s three toes. Steve Brown is an instructor at North Bennet Street School in Boston. SEPTEMBER/OCTO BER 2018 49 W270BR.indd 49 6/28/18 12:12 PM THE UBIQUITOUS TURNED PAD FOOT his leg and foot can be sawn first and then back of the ankle, turn a fair curve with the skew Tturned, or vice versa. I think it’s easier to from the top end of the chamfer down to the turn first. To begin, trace the side pattern on the scribe line at the top of the foot. Once the back blank and mark the elevation of the pad and the of the ankle is formed, turn the foot with the top of the foot. Also make a chamfer mark at skew or with a small spindle gouge or scraper. 5 Blank, 2 ⁄8 in. square by 17 in. long the thinnest part of the ankle. The blank should Next saw out the leg on the bandsaw and clean 3 1 ⁄4 in. be overlong, giving you a way out if the first up the sawn surfaces. Retrace the side pattern attempt at turning the pad foot doesn’t go well. on the turned surfaces, and draw chamfer lines The first thing to be turned is the pad under to guide the rough shaping. As you take the the foot. Using a parting tool, give it a cylindrical leg and foot from square to round you’ll remove 3 2 ⁄4 in. shape. Next, turn a cylinder for the foot itself. 80% to 90% of the wood by chamfering before 5 Then, using the long point of the skew, scribe a blending the facets into a smoothly curved 4 ⁄8 in. firm line to define the top of the foot. This cut surface. I use a 1-in. chisel to remove the bulk must be deep enough to accept the edge of a of each chamfer and switch to a rasp to fine- chisel when you pare the top of the foot later. tune them. Then I knock off the peaks between Use the parting tool to cut to the chamfer chamfers and shape the final curves with a rasp. mark, then continue this chamfer down to the Finally, I use a half-round file and card scraper to foot. Now, to create the inward sweep of the refine the surface. 1. TURN FIRST 17 in. Leg layout. After tracing the side Turn the pad first. With a parting Scribe with a skew. After turning pattern onto the blank, mark the tool and calipers, turn the pad to a the foot to a cylinder, use a skew ankle for a chamfer. Mark the leg’s cylinder the same diameter as the to make a deep scribe line at the 1 center by eye, then mark a little inner line on the bottom pattern. top of the foot. This will help as you 1 ⁄8 in. dia. less than halfway to the back edge. carve the top of the foot. 9 ⁄16 in. 5 2 ⁄8 in. 3 SIDE ⁄16 in. PATTERN Pad dia., 3 1 ⁄4 in. in. 5 ⁄8 2 Define the chamfer. Use a Turn the heel. The inward sweep The foot curves under. With the parting tool to cut to the depth of at the back of the ankle is created heel curve shaped, you now have 2 5 the chamfer mark, then carry that by turning a fair curve with a skew access to turn the underside of ⁄ 8 in. chamfer down the rest of the leg. chisel. It begins at the chamfer the foot to its curved profile. You BOTTOM mark and sweeps right down to the can make this cut with a skew, a PATTERN scribe line at the top of the foot. spindle gouge, or a scraper. 50 FINE WOODWORKING Photos: Anissa Kapsales; drawings: John Tetreault W270BR.indd 50 7/2/18 11:33 AM 2. THEN SHAPE Creating the cabriole. With the foot turned, reapply the side pattern lines and saw out the leg. Bandsaw one side, tape the cutoff back on, rotate the blank, and saw again. At the foot, cut close to the skew line but don’t hit it. Then fair the sawn surfaces with a rasp or spokeshave. Freehand layout lines guide the shaping. To Chamfers take the leg from square to round. For the major leg chamfers, Brown often uses a lay out chamfers, Brown eyeballs the space in 1-in. chisel and a drawknife to remove the bulk of the wood. Then he switches to a rasp to fine-tune half, then draws his chamfer line a little more the surface. Scribe with a skew. After turning than halfway from the edge to the center. the foot to a cylinder, use a skew to make a deep scribe line at the top of the foot. This will help as you carve the top of the foot. Chamfers shape the top of the foot. To finish shaping the foot, draw layout lines for chamfers from the foot up to the ankle. Use a chisel and rasp to cut the chamfers and then to create narrower chamfers. Work carefully near the skew line, and when there is very little wood above it, use a chisel to pare to the line. Once the shape is fair in all directions, file away the rasp marks. Photos: Anissa Kapsales; drawings: John Tetreault SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 51 W270BR.indd 51 7/2/18 11:35 AM THE ELEGANT SLIPPER FOOT haping the slipper foot begins once you’ve the knee down to the foot. It is so subtle that Ssawn out the rest of the leg. Start the foot it’s hard to make out when the leg has no finish by tracing the bottom pattern onto the bottom of on it.