mds2 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Recently I have made a bunch of child stools and my mother has been asking me for one. She wants it just because I made them, which is nice but not necessary. So I decided to make her her own full sized stool for Christmas. I've never made a stool, or any sort of chair before so this should be a fun experience. It will be made of solid walnut. I'm not sure how I will shape the legs yet, I have a few ideas but nothing set in stone. So far I have milled all my material to size, and made a jig to line everything up. The plan is to half-blind the cross members into the legs. The jig makes all the compound angles easier in my head. Anyway here is what I have so far: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) I'm thinking a sculpted stool for the shop is on the list soon. I'll watch yours first. Edited November 4, 2015 by Brendon_t 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Sweet another build thread! Looking good man! Everything looks great except for the car in the shop in the second pic!! Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Nice to see a jig to make reproducible parts! Nice job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad H. Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I just picked up some 3 inch thick Cottonwood, part of which is slated for a stool. I'm very interested also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mds2 Posted November 4, 2015 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 A quick update. My first ever half-blind dovetails. I cut the sides of the recess with my saw, hogged out the waste with my router, then cleaned it up with a chisel 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Now that's tight! Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 A little more progress for this evening. Time in the shop is spotty sometimes. A few minutes here and there. I have one side fit up now, but I'll walk through fitting the other side. The legs on this stool skew 8 degrees in two directions. For me the holding jig is essential for getting all the angles right. I spent the first evening laying out the jig and it is made from scrap melamine I had leaning in the corner. Here is the leg blanks with the cross member blanks sitting across the top. I clamp the cross members so they don't move while I mark everything. Next I mark the shoulders by using a marking knife and putting a little tic mark on both sides. Then it is basically connect the dots. I use a t bevel set to 8 degrees to verify they line up and to make a straight line with the knife. Then I use a marking gage to mark the depth of the tail. then I mark the dovetail itself. I eyeball the angle on these. Then I use a handsaw to get rid of the waste. Next I put the cross member back in the jig. If I did everything right the shoulders should wedge themselves between the two legs. Then I can transfer the tails onto the legs using a knife. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Thanks for the details on that process. Always something new to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Very cool. I appreciate the description of the process. A stool seems so easy to make but I look at this and think, "Well I'm not sure I could make that jig so accurately." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Morning update:I completed the joinery and got the legs glued together. It was nice not needing any clamps. You also see the seat blank in this pic. I glued it up a couple weeks ago.I realized my biggest fear when assembling. I was really concerned about this happening, and it did! Fixable though. And I wasnt paying attention and sawed too far. Twice!!I have a couple more cross members to make, but here is the rough shape. I'm not certain what to do on the legs yet. Roundover, or something more elborate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Update on the the stool from the weekend. I spent a lot of time with a rasp and a file shaping everything. I decided to cut an arced chamfer on the outside corners of the legs, then did a similar treatment to the other edges. A thinkin man would have did this before gluing it all together, but I love shaping walnut, so it wasn't too bad. The top cross members are two really short pieces. I didnt feel like dovetailing them, so I used my kreg jig. They were kind of a pain in the ass to screw together, but it works.The next thing I did was shape the bottom of the fit. It curves like this on two of the faces. I cut the bulk of the waste away with a handsaw, then cleaned it up with a file. Like I said before, a thinkin man would have did this with a bandsaw before hand. Preshaping:Cleaning up outside chamfer with a spokeshave file:This shows most of the shaping close to finished:After lots of sanding I got the first coat of oil on it:One of my favorite details. Where the chamfer slightly exposes the end of the dovetail on the legs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Exposed dovetail is a very nice touch ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad H. Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Good job! Oil on walnut always wakes up looking sooooo nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 That is a nice barstool, for sure! I like that dovetail crossmember, it adds a very strong touch of "fine woodcraft". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Coming together really well! Those dovetails look sharp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Very cool. I like the design and construction. Too bad about those pocket screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Very well planned and executed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Awesome stool! I love the dovetails as well. Dovetails or M&T would have been perfection instead of those pocket hole screws! But you cant tell and it looks amazing either way. Good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Stool update. Construction completed. I had been putting off cutting the seat because I knew the blank was too tall for my bandsaw. The plan was to drive to the other side of town to use my friend's saw. I couldn't remember how much it was over capacity as I glued it up a few weeks ago. Finally I just set it on the saw to see how close it was:Not worth the drive across town. I tried to adjust the saw guide up as far as I could. Even considered cutting it without the cover on the saw as that gave me an extra 1/32" of height. Finally I ended up running the blank over the jointer until it just fit. After cutting and a little sanding:Cleaned with mineral spirits:Next I need to mate the two pieces. If I had a domino I domino it, but I don't so I decided to use dowels. I drilled four holes in the base and then placed dowel centers in the holes. I set the seat on top, and then pushed down to create the corresponding center parks.Next add glue and clamp it together:After that I wiped the seat down with BLO.Speaking of kreg screws: I hit one drilling the dowel holes and ruined a forstner bit: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 I like this! Good progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Yes, and good job of nearly getting that car out of your shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Yes, and good job of nearly getting that car out of your shop.One time I was encroaching on that side of the garage for a few days. My wife came out, held her arms out wide and said "MINE". Reclaiming her half the garage. My brand new pickup sits outside 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Three lessons from this thread;1- Everyone should own a domino because they are awesome.2- Woman rule over us and there is no way around it.3- Pocket hole screws will ruin your bits and eventually your life. See # 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted November 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Three lessons from this thread;1- Everyone should own a domino because they are awesome.2- Woman rule over us and there is no way around it.3- Pocket hole screws will ruin your bits and eventually your life. See # 1No argument here. I'm drinking if you're buying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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