Vanity Stool

[pghmyn]

I have another project journal, but I only started that project to have something to do with my tools. Basically, it is used to calibrate and test out the tools. It actually worked really well to do this.

 

Anyway, I moved my computer to the basement in the shop, and my fiance couldn't have been happier. Not only does she get me out of her hair, but she gets the stand that my computer was on. She immediately put her floor standing mirror on top against the wall, and a plastic stool from the bathroom in front of it. Now she has somewhere to do her makeup instead of sitting on the floor in front of the mirror. She has a rather large bathroom with a 7' long counter top and gigantic mirror, but her and her sister quarrel about makeup so often, she doesn't like her stuff leaving her room...I guess I'll never understand.

 

So, she was sitting on her stool, and all of a sudden she looked over at me and said, "Build me a stool!"

 

My eyes opened, and away I went. I had her find me a picture of a stool that she liked, and she printed it out.

 

I chose Cherry for this project, for two reasons:
1) I have never used it before, and I wanted to.

2) Once the Cherry darkens, it will closely match her bedroom furniture.

 

Mainly the first reason is why I chose it, though. I like to try new species of wood

 

I went to Kettle Moraine Hardwoods - http://kmhardwoods.com - and picked my lumber. They have an amazing selection of quality lumber, and the domestic wood prices are great. Select & Better Cherry 4/4 for $3.18/BF is what I bought. I knew I would only need one good sized board, but I grabbed two because my fiance doesn't know I only needed one! Cost me $20 for the two boards. One is 6" wide exactly and about 7' long. The other is 5.875" wide and about 5' long.

 

I rough cut the pieces an extra few inches in length, width, and took of just enough to barely expose the sides. Only about 1/16" off each side leaves about 1" of material left after full acclimation.

 

 

I am going to attach the legs with mortise and tenons if I am up to the challenge.

[G S Haydon]

I look forward to find out about you experience with Cherry. It's not a wood I have used before.

[pghmyn]

I look forward to find out about you experience with Cherry. It's not a wood I have used before.

So far with my new tools, it cuts really nice. The color is really something to marvel over. I didn't think I would really like Cherry, but after seeing it first hand I love it.

[pghmyn]

Is there a general amount on how wide my tenon should be? I am going to have roughly 3/4" stock, maybe 7/8 if I have the material to do so after acclimation.

I was thinking my tenons would be 1/3 the thickness of the mortised piece. Is this a good generalization on how wide it should be?

[Byrdie]

I typically go at least half.  When I put a tenon on 3/4 stock, it's usually 3/8 wide and I'll make the shoulders the same width.  On 1" stock I'll go anywhere from 1/2 to 5/8.  Wider with narrow shoulders is better than narrow with wide shoulders.

[pghmyn]

I typically go at least half.  When I put a tenon on 3/4 stock, it's usually 3/8 wide and I'll make the shoulders the same width.  On 1" stock I'll go anywhere from 1/2 to 5/8.  Wider with narrow shoulders is better than narrow with wide shoulders.

3/8 of an inch it is, then.

 

I brought my portable planer over from my dad's house, and I am going to partially dimension the lumber now. There has been practically no movement in the wood. Most of the pieces still suction cup to the jointer bed. I will probably get the wood to just about 3/4" then do a final pass tomorrow. 

 

Bonehead move on my part, I forgot to add a couple inches to each piece to account for snipe. Oh well, I have a way to get around that, just takes quick hands and two people.

 

EDIT:

I just did the milling of the lumber, and I am going to try and keep the stock about 7/8" thick. I really like the look of thicker stock on furniture, and I just feel that extra 1/8" will give some more strength the to legs and aprons of the stool.

[pghmyn]

If anyone was wondering how I got around the snipe without having to cut off the ends of the board, I used the method of continuous feed. If you know why snipe occurs, you can understand why this works. I had my fiance help me through the process. I had two sacrificial pieces which I fed through with the stock. First piece was sacrificial, then all the project stock, then the final piece was sacrificial. As soon as the current piece was about the pass the first roller, the next piece went immediately in. And so on.

 

I have the basic rough dimensions figured out, and tonight I might start to cut some pieces. These mortise and tenons are going to be a fun experiment, though. I do not have a drill press, nor a router. The smallest chisel I have is 1/2" wide. What I am thinking about doing is using a smaller drill bit to drill out most of the waste in the mortises, then take my time to clean up the rest with the 1/2" chisel. With 7/8" thick stock, could I get away with a 1/2" wide mortise, or would that be too wide?

 

Started to practice some mortise and tenons on some scrap I cut up. I used the method I saw Paul Sellers do in a video with the common bench chisel.

 

I chopped away, until I had about 5/8" in depth.

 

Surprisingly, once the sides were defined, this was extremely easy to make. Now, if I had some sharper chisels, this would have been a dream.

 

I was really happy when I put it together and it was perfectly flush.

 

I have some work to do on this joinery method, but it isn't too bad. A new set of chisels is something I want to eventually invest in.

 

Also, as a side tangent, I am really liking the grain and color patterns in the wood. The picture doesn't really do justice but here is the lumber to final thickness and width. Lengths will be cut when I finalize the height with my fiance.

[pghmyn]

I cut the mortises in the stock, and that was a journey. Some are more loose than others, but I will try to fill that as best I can. My chisels made this process a chore at first because they are just - well - not sharp. So, I picked a drill bit just under half the size of the mortise, and drilled out about 85% of the material then came back with the chisels and cleaned them up. Worked out pretty good, I must say.

 

I have a lot to work on, but this was a good first attempt. Really would have helped to have some nice mortise chisels, or quality chisels in the first place.

 

I have to add the tapers to the legs, then I get to put everything together tonight. Hopefully my CT midi comes in the Rockler soon so I can start sanding and finishing.

[pghmyn]

I glued up the front and back sub assemblies, and they came out amazing. I tapered the legs on the jointer which was really easy to do, and took about 5 minutes including set up - no jigs.

 

I gave a very light sanding to just get rid of the pencil marks and such. I feel the sanding makes the Cherry brings out the color even better.

 

Here are a couple pictures of the piece just clamped together to show my fiance the size and stance of it. Looks a little crooked in the pictures, and it is. But, that is because it was hard to hold and clamp with only two hands - really a job for three

 

 

[bobcrosley]

This is looking great. I can only hope my first pass at a hand chopped mortise looks that good. Hard to tell from the picture but is that cherry ply for the seat?

Thoughts yet on the finish?

[pghmyn]

Thank you, and no it's just Birch ply from Menards. The quality is really not bad for $39, but this is left over from a different project.

Not what I preferred, but the seat is covered by a wacky fabric now courtesy of my fiancé.

Hey, it's her stool...

I am going to clear coat with poly, most likely. I will take pictures when I am done with that process.

[pghmyn]

It's come time to finish it, and I'm not sure if I should do shellac or spray on poly. Is there a benefit to either one? I have used both, and the spray on might be easier, but if there is a benefit to the shellac I will use that.

 

Just want the basic clear coat on this piece. I'm hoping as the cherry ages the natural color will closer resemble her other furniture in the room.

[Rapid Roger]

I would use the poly and a coat or two of wax.

With shellac, it could get messed up if she should spill alcohol or fingernail polish on it. 

By adding the wax, most things can be removed without damage to the finish. Just clean it up and add more wax like on a work bench.

Just my two cents worth.

 

Rog

[G S Haydon]

Is there a general amount on how wide my tenon should be? I am going to have roughly 3/4" stock, maybe 7/8 if I have the material to do so after acclimation.

I was thinking my tenons would be 1/3 the thickness of the mortised piece. Is this a good generalization on how wide it should be?

 

Sorry to be late on this one, in the ideal world you want 1/3rd of the thickness of your wood. However what you did will work fine. It's very rare in joinery that you stick to 1/3rd. Mouldings, rebates and grooves often play more of a part in the position and size of the tenon. If you were being a legend you would of put a secret haunch in there too  . By the way the project looks great and that joint will be strong. How did you secure the joint?

[pghmyn]

Sorry for the late reply, myself.

 

By the time I finished up my fourth mortise, the chisel has seen better days. It was a chore to just clean the walls of the mortise. I don't have a sharpening system - yet - and the fiance wanted her stool to be done as soon as possible. So, I decided to connect the two leg sub assemblies with pocket screws. The strips going parallel to the leg sub assemblies are not only there to screw the top down, but they are glued and screwed completely across the mortise joints just to add a little more strength incase my first mortise and tenons weren't up to par yet.

 

After 3 coats of semi-gloss spray on polyurethane, this is what it looks like. I really like the Cherry grain patterns that popped with the finish.

 

Side notes. The legs are tapered, I broke the corners on all the edges, and then rounded corners which would touch her legs when she sat.

 

Cost of materials: $20 - including material and padding for seat (not pictured).

 

Last edit: Are there any colored stains that look good with Cherry?

 

[G S Haydon]

Good work! I'm not a fan of stains, let the beauty of the wood show  . Hope the fiance likes it.

[pghmyn]

Good work! I'm not a fan of stains, let the beauty of the wood show  . Hope the fiance likes it.

Amen to that.

 

She loves it, too. Uses it every morning

 

There is something extremely rewarding about building something with your hands and seeing it used by someone else.

[bobcrosley]

Very nice result. I really like the more subtle tapers of your piece over the inspiration piece. 

 

Don't forget to post a pic of the final piece, with the seat.

[pghmyn]

I'm not much of an upholsterer - but here is my first try. I think I will stick with woodworking