Question
I'm trying to come up with some ideas for furniture feet on sink bases. I am trying to avoid short grain to long grain scenarios because the short grain piece often seems to attract moisture and swell relative to adjacent elements. Can anybody suggest anything better than these?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor F:
What exactly do you mean by "the short grain to long grain scenario"?
I can't see much difference between your "option 1" and "option 4" choices, but if it were me, I would go with options 2, 3, or 5, since the arched base really adds design punch to this simply-constructed piece. Don't worry about the wide base pieces swelling - just attach them in a way that they can swell or shrink freely. They are against the floor, and won't open up a crack which will be noticeable from a typical line of sight.
The carcass sits atop the frame and panel and is equal in dimension to the frame minus the thickness of the foot. A trim molding such as an ogee is then mitered and applied to the top of the foot and against the carcass front and sides. Another nice design element would be ogee bracket feet. These would take more time than the typical scroll sawn designs.
As others have noted, the choice of furniture foot need to be appropriate to the style of work. For the most part my work has a classic/contemporary bent to it, bordering on Shaker or Craftsman style. The majority of it is kitchen cabinetry.
Context adds a couple of other variables. The furniture feet typically land on an out of level floor and have to transition to other elements in the room that are not symmetrically placed. They also have to land on a budget. This budget has to also include getting a buy-in from the homeowner/designer, getting the crew to figure out how to make it, explaining it to the contractor who is really not the guy who's going to install it and then mopping it up because the painter smokes pot and loses one of them.
