Strength of Cabriole Legs

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Ty G

Well-known member
About the strength of cabriole legs in highboys.  I have a few period furniture making books I've been reading/researching before heading to my July workshop.  I came across where ..."the cabriole legs often split and even gave way under too much weight.  Most furniture makers soon abandoned this..... for the bracket footed chest on chest."  (In the 18th Century Style).

The queen anne highboy with cabriole legs is obviously still a very popular item.  Is this an issue? 

Many thanks, Ty
 
Not including worm-eaten legs, I have only encountered one broken cabriole leg in thirty-five years of restoring and dealing in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century furniture, and I know that was as a result of a careless mover.

I have come across the odd missing short-grain segment of a pad foot.

Can you share the title and author of the book you read this in?
 
Ty, As you will find out in our class. You should be able to drawer a center line down from the post to the pad and have meat on either side. If you draw the serpentine which crosses the center line then there is much more of a chance it will break with the grain. I hope this makes sense
 
Thanks guys.  Jeff, man I can't wait for the workshop; and the 20 + hours drive time. 

Jack, what I quoted came from "In the 18th Century Style"  The section which I quoted was written by Emyl Jenkins. 
 
Ty - It's a bit unclear from the quote, but if the author was referring to chest-on-chest designs with a short cabriole foot, it's not a surprise that they would fail under the weight - a chest on chest typical of philadelphia furniture, for example, is colossal.  A high-boy, on the other hand, is considerably lighter in weight.
 
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