SawDustB Posted November 23, 2015 Report Share Posted November 23, 2015 As I've mentioned a couple times in other posts, I've been building a kitchen helper for my oldest daughter since the end of July. I finally finished it and put it into action, so I thought I'd share some pictures. It's made from what my supplier called brown maple, which seemed to have a little more character than the standard sap maple. The finish is 3 coats of arm r seal semi gloss. The one element I wasn't crazy about with the standard design was having the bolts show on the outside of the legs, so I opted for knock down hardware from Lee valley instead. There's a threaded insert with a post projecting from the leg, which is then tightened down using the set screw you can see in my picture. I also didn't go with the dowel pins to hold the platform, since I couldn't make my dowel stock and any drill bits I had work together. Instead, I used door latches from Lee valley to stop the platform from tipping up. Works well, and less likely to get lost since they're screwed on. Thanks for checking it out! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2015 If anyone's interested, the knockdown hardware is labeled as quick connect fittings on the Lee valley site. They work well, but you have to install them precisely and they require a metric drill bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 I didn't mention, but I used dowels to assemble this instead of dominos. I used 3/8 inch dowels, with 2 in the small cross pieces and 3 dowels plus a knockdown fitting or 4 dowels on the larger pieces. I think I counted over 200 holes that I had to drill for this. It figures that I just got a set of decent bits for my birthday, the day after I finished it. In retrospect, the dowels worked fine but I should have gotten a better jig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Looks great, I bet your daughter has a wonderful time working from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Looks great, I bet your daughter has a wonderful time working from it! Thanks! She loves using it, maybe a bit too much... Hard to get her out of the kitchen! Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Looks great! Be sure to always use it! Marc mentioned on a recent video that his son got second degree burns recently from falling onto the stove. Could have been avoided if he was using this cool invention! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 She's also decided it needed some embellishment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Haha!! I love it! Just like my little girls, stickers on everything!! Sent from my SM-P550 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Looks great! Always nice to build for kids, they seem to appreciate it the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Thanks! It was supposed to be for her birthday in September (and it was 80% complete) but then we had her sister so the timeline slipped a little... I think she didn't believe me that she would ever get to use it. She was pretty excited when I actually brought it in, and just kept telling me "thank you" and that it was "really sweet". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Brian, really great looking. You mentioned break down. What does it breakdown to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDustB Posted November 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Brian, really great looking. You mentioned break down. What does it breakdown to?Thanks Coop! The details are covered in Marc's video on it, but the sides are glued up assemblies, while the cross pieces at the front and back are not. If you were to remove the set screws that are visible in my pictures, the sides would come off and you're left with them and a pile of pieces with dowels sticking out of the ends. The knockdown hardware just leaves a metal pin sticking out of the leg, which can also be unscrewed so the whole thing is flat. The platform to stand on is just sitting in place, aside from the latches that are slid out to prevent it from tipping. Here's the video The only reason I can actually see breaking it down is for moving or to store it if it wasn't going to be used anymore. If Marc hadn't done it that way, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to do it, since I expect with my 2 girls it should see use for the next several years. It will come apart, but the fit is pretty tight so it's not something I would want to do often. I may have needed to use a couple of quick clamps to help me pull mine together, on account of tight dowels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 The breakdown feature is great if you are building this for a remote recipient. Packs flat for shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 Nice job Brian. My kids (in their mid 30s now) grew up on the ol' step stool, never had any accidents but I would have made one of these if I had known about them back then 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Very nice! Mind if I post a picture in the gallery? Ok, I'm going to post it but be sure to let me know if it's NOT OK. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SawDustB Posted November 25, 2015 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Very nice! Mind if I post a picture in the gallery? Ok, I'm going to post it but be sure to let me know if it's NOT OK. Sure Marc, feel free to grab a picture. Here's my daughter putting it to good use ;) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Thanks for the link. Back when I was a kid, right after the wheel was invented, I remember we had a high chair that would break down, (intentionally) where the bottom platform would fold out and up, and the bottom became a play table. Pretty easy to visualize from that description, eh? About 15 years ago I found one just like it at an antique store and bought it with the intention of refinishing it for my grandkids. They just started high school this year and have never seen it . So when you said breakdown, I thought maybe it was something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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