Stephen H. Smith: American Furniture Maker

Once the upper and lower cases are completed, it is time to start working on the desk  interior.  Federal furniture design used inlays of contrasting wood color and texture to embellish pieces. In this case I am using an eagle inlay of the same rampantly figured maple cut into the curly cherry prospect door.  The eagle is of course another popular federal design motif.  The drawers of the interior will also be made of cherry, and will be surrounded by curly maple beading.  It is important to conceptualize the whole interior before beginning construction, and to consider and reconsider how each element of the design will effect the other.  The first step is to make a pattern of the eagle and trace it onto the piece of wood that will be the inlay.  The edges of the inlay are beveled slightly so that as the inlay is forced into the matching void carved into the door it will fit tighter and tighter.  As you can see many wooden clamps are used to exact even pressure on the whole inlay.  The inlay is cut thicker than needed to give it strength to withstand the clamping process as it is being glued into place.

The wood for the lid of the desk should be some of the best boards from the stock that is on hand.  Typically this wood is set aside early on in the project. A desk lid made in this period typically had breadboard ends - end pieces with the grain running at 90 degrees to the grain of the rest of the lid.  This was done to prevent warping. 

Here is the secretary on it's new feet, with the clamps removed.

Once the stock for the feet is formed the pattern chossen for the foot can be traced on the back face of the stock, and the brackets can be cut out on the bandsaw.  Care must be taken to hold the stock down tightly to prevent the molded face from rocking on the table of the saw.  This is a dangerous operation, and the number one concern must be keeping fingers out of the saw.

To produce ogee bracket feet, enough stock must be prepared to equal the combined length of all of the six brackets that will form the feet.  The feet get their name from the distinctive "ogive" curve of their outer edge.  With plain bracket feet, the board that is used for stock has no defined top or bottom, front or back to it's shape, so the feet can be laid out so that they nestle with one another, saving wood.  In fact, often they can be made from scraps.  This is not the case with ogee feet.  Enough stock for the combined length of afore mentioned 6 brackets must be molded to shape.