Craftsmanship in Wood

Superb job as usual, Brian. I was also worried by the size of the feet but you've adequately quelled my fears.

Brian wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:10 pm

Ah, I see. Yes, it's about 1/2" diameter on the feet. They're on the small side, but on stone and concrete they have been quite fine. I might want something bigger for a wooden floor, in fact I've used 3/4" plastic capped thumb screws for wooden floors.

Thanks for the answer. Yes, it was more about the contact with the floor. But that makes sense. I'd probably not want brass directly on a wooden floor regardless of the diameter.

Iain

Thanks gents.

I agree, I would not want brass on a wooden floor. I'd like something custom made with a hard durometer rubber set into a large diameter thumb screw. Once the right project comes around because I can machine parts on a bridgeport, but my metal lathe is a POS so I tend not to use it for anything.

I used slices of cork sheet under the leveler feet on the current cabinet, however if the furniture were likely to be moved around a lot I would also be looking to apply sheet rubber or urethane, something like that.

I think cork is also a good choice. Ideally I think I'd like something that is captured by the foot itself around all edges. I have a feeling I will end up making something a bit more advanced than the thumb screw at a later point.

Brian wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:23 am

I think cork is also a good choice. Ideally I think I'd like something that is captured by the foot itself around all edges. I have a feeling I will end up making something a bit more advanced than the thumb screw at a later point.

I can't remember if I posted about this or not on my blog, but I milled recesses about 1mm deep in the leveler feet to capture the cord around the edges.

The tricky thing is gauging compression of the cork, leaving the cork some distance past being flush with the metal so as to keep the metal from touching the floor, but not so much as to make the cork visually obvious under the castings. I wasn't sure how well thicker cork would handle shear loads if the (weighty) cabinet were dragged on it's feet across the floor, so I stuck, no pun intended, with 3mm cork.

Ah, cool. You may have covered it, but I might have missed it.

Does the cork slide well? My concern with material, I'd like something with a minor cushion to avoid damaging floors but I'd like to avoid something that sticks as you know many people move furniture by sliding it! It may be a better choice than rubber, except maybe very hard durometer rubber. Plastic tends to be scratchy on wood.

Brian wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:18 am

Ah, cool. You may have covered it, but I might have missed it.

Does the cork slide well? My concern with material, I'd like something with a minor cushion to avoid damaging floors but I'd like to avoid something that sticks as you know many people move furniture by sliding it! It may be a better choice than rubber, except maybe very hard durometer rubber. Plastic tends to be scratchy on wood.

I wonder: if a heavy cabinet or table was likely to be slid around much on a wooden floor how well UHMW 'cushions' would work? I don't think they would scratch the floor, as UHMW plastic is not abrasive like phenolic, say.

I think the cork is adequately slippery.

I've never really taken much notice of what they use commercially, but whatever a company like Herman Miller uses for their chair glides should suffice. I know it's a plastic but I'm not sure what type. They slide well and do not readily scratch an otherwise clean floor.