Three-sided stools

[derekcohen 1098]

For the past 25 years, we have lived with these Ikea bench stools in our kitchen ...
 

 

We do not eat much at the bench, but they get used. More recently Lynndy suggested that we replace them, and I thought that this would be a good excuse to build something inspired by Wharton Escherick, whose stools are just so organic and profound in their simplicity.
 

The design was also influenced by a point made by Lynndy that a fixed-height footrest does not fit everyone. I thought about this and it occurred to me that the stretchers on the Escherick stools could form the basis of a slightly different design - make the seat three-sided, and one could choose the stretcher height to suit.

The last requirement was that the wood must be Hard Maple, to match the kitchen I built a few years ago. I would have preferred a contrasting top, say in Walnut, but She Who Must Be Obeyed vetoed this. So ...
 

 

 

I did manage to get contrasting wedges for the tenons passed her 

 

The stretchers ....
 

 

One last one ...
 

 

I'll am happy to post build photos if there is interest.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[RichardA 4960]

I like'em.  Ya done good young man.

[curlyoak 694]

54 minutes ago, derekcohen said:

I did manage to get contrasting wedges for the tenons passed her 

Because of your good behavior and going the yes dear route on the previous decisions, the wedges should not require permission...

As all your work, well done! Clever stretcher idea. They do look comfortable.

[BillyJack 347]

Turned out nice

 Careful with any abuse.....

[pkinneb 3357]

Very nice! While I have to say getting 25 years out of the previous stools is pretty awesome I like the new design way better 

[drzaius 2565]

Very nice. The staggered stretcher height solve a practical issue and adds a lot of visual interest.

I'd certainly be interested is a build thread for these.

[gee-dub 3208]

Beautiful rendition Derek!

[Coop 7285]

Very well done! 

[JohnG 1078]

Beautifully done! I would love to see the build photos.

[derekcohen 1098]

I've not made a large number of these stools, more like a half dozen, and so I hardly count as an expert here. There are others on the forums with so much more relevant experience.

Past stools have used a scorp, pull shave and travishers to shape seats, and the legs were drilled with a brace and auger bit. Tenons and mortices were tapered with shop made reamers and tenon makers ...

For this build I decided to go a different route, and combine power and hand tools. One reason was that the wood chosen was Hard Maple, which is a little more work to excavate than, say, a softwood such as Radiata Pine.

The boards for the seats needed to be glued from two sections as the seats were 14" across, and the maximum I had was 12". I was reasonably successful in disguising this with two of the seats. The thickness of 1 1/2" could have been 1 1/4" and saved some shaving.

The stools ended up 27 1/2" high, and the legs were shaped from 1 1/2" square x 31" long sections.

Below are seats cut and the template used for both the outline and marking the position of the legs ...

I made a simple fixture for production ripping the legs on the slider ...

Later, I built a version of this with an adjustable parallel guide fence. This will rip any width and also taper legs.

The plan was to drill the mortices on the drill press using a 24mm WoodOwl auger for this purpose (no leading screw). These are to be parallel-, not tapered mortices ...

The legs are a 10 degree rake and, being three legs and arranged around essentially a circle, the resultant angle is simply a line to the centre.

Not a lot of skill required here.

More machine work, but some hand working coming in ...

The seats were turned on the lathe. Just a shallow hollow required. The reason for doing it this way was to create an even hollow in what is a three-corned, but round seat ...

While at it, rough turned the legs ..

Finally, the hand tools take over. First it is the drawknife to rough out the tapers on the outside edges ...

Then I had a fun time using different spokeshaves (I had not had a chance to use any in some months, so this was making up for lost time) ..

The Stanley #84 and #85 is an amazing shave (Jim, I believe that you gave me these). These work on the same principle as a travisher: the toe has a slight (2-3 degree) taper, which enables the depth of cut to be altered with the angle it is held to the work piece. The shaving done here is largely end grain, and the other shave to shine was the Veritas LA.

The hollowed seats were further shaped and smoothed with a travisher ...

Then back to shaves for shaping the sides. The HNT Gordon can shave into the grain, while the lower angle of the LN leaves a finer finish ...

I smoothed the surfaces with a scraper ...

... however Lynndy disapproved and wanted a sanded finish, which is how it ended.

There are a few gaps in the photos collected, such as the shaping of the legs. Not a lot here other than they taper from 25mm at the base, to 38mm at the swell, and then down to 30mm at the start of the tenon. The tenon is 24mm.

Here is a shot of the three stools with legs inserted ...

... and another with one set of stretchers in place ...

If anything, it is the fitting of the stretchers that was one of the more exacting parts of this build.

Over-length stretchers. These are 25mm at the centre and will have 5/8" tenons ..

The steps in fitting the stretchers were ..

Firstly, I created a template for the positions of the legs, drawing these onto a sheet of MDF ...

The lines joining the legs provided a guide for drilling.

The height of the legs were marked. These were at 160mm, 190mm and 220mm. It is advisable to do these one set at a time, that is, drill the mortices, and insert the stretcher for one set of legs, then move to the next height. The reason: it is a little like fitting mitres - three corners are easy, but the last might require a little massaging. Insert the stretchers for two sets of legs, and then the last set can be marked accurately.

Once the mortices are drilled (halfway), then the stretchers are measured for length. The ends of the stretchers can be turned exactly to 5/8". A great tool for this is the Sorby Sizing Tool Set (photo from Elia Bizzarri) ...

When glueing up, the stretchers-into-legs must be inserted first. Only then is it possible to do the leg tenons-into-seat mortices. Once the seat goes on, the structure is triangulated, and it becomes incredibly rigid. The stretchers would be impossibly be come out unless the seat is removed.

The last task is to level the legs ...

.. and saw them off ...

The stools were finished in one coat of Ubeaut Hard Shellac (for a little amber), and then three coats of General Finishes water-based poly were rubbed on. This finish is hard-wearing and does not yellow.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tpt life 2738]

What was the basis for the disapproval of the scraper finish? Could she articulate what she didn’t like?

[derekcohen 1098]

She just did not want tool marks. Scraping is clean on flat surfaces, but not as much as sanding on curved edges.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[pkinneb 3357]

Derek as always thanks for the explanations and pics!! One question what was turned on the lathe exactly I'm guessing just a shallow carve out the top of the seat correct? If that's correct how deep would you say your went at your deepest point?

On another note how do you like your Nova DP?

[Coop 7285]

Derek, the tapering  of the leg stopped at the bottom of the seat and did not continue thru the seat, correct?

[derekcohen 1098]

16 hours ago, pkinneb said:

Derek as always thanks for the explanations and pics!! One question what was turned on the lathe exactly I'm guessing just a shallow carve out the top of the seat correct? If that's correct how deep would you say your went at your deepest point?

On another note how do you like your Nova DP?

The completed hollow is about 6mm (1/4") deep at the centre.

The Nova is an excellent lathe. Powerful and stable. I love the variable speed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

15 hours ago, Coop said:

Derek, the tapering  of the leg stopped at the bottom of the seat and did not continue thru the seat, correct?

Coop, that is correct. The mortice runs about half the depth.

EDIT: Sorry, I am referring here to the stretchers, not the legs/seat. The leg tenons continue through the seat. In other words, there is a mortice all the way through - how else could they be wedged? The tenons, however, are not tapered, but parallel and have a shoulder. The seat rests on the shoulder and is not held by a taper. That is one reason that the wedge in line with the seat grain will not affect the seat.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[drzaius 2565]

Derek, how much weight do you suppose the stretchers would take? I am going to need to make some stools, but have grand kids that are into their teens & you know how a teenaged brain works. Your design really appeals to me & I may borrow some elements for my stools.

[derekcohen 1098]

Frank, you and I could together stand on a stool, jumpy up and down, and it would remain solid. That is a combination of the triangulation design and hardwood.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[drzaius 2565]

1 hour ago, derekcohen said:

Frank, you and I could together stand on a stool, jumpy up and down, and it would remain solid. That is a combination of the triangulation design and hardwood.

Regards from Perth

Derek

What about the stretchers? I'm visualizing an 18 year old with lots of enthusiasm, but little awareness of structural limitations putting all his weight on a stretcher.

[derekcohen 1098]

In this case, I suggest a book on parenting skills  

Regards from Perth

Derek

[drzaius 2565]

1 hour ago, derekcohen said:

In this case, I suggest a book on parenting skills  

Regards from Perth

Derek

That's probably a good point. It's actually not the 18 YO I would be concerned with. He's autistic & one of his dominant characteristics is that he takes proper procedure & safety practices VERY seriously. Explain it once to him & never have to worry about it again. If any of us get carried away with whatever, we can expect a polite, but stern lecture from James.

[derekcohen 1098]

Frank, walk James through the procedure - what is right to do, and how to do it - once it becomes the rule, he will never change it. Change is too stressful for him. He sounds like the Little Professor type (I work with ASD)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chet 4811]

Derek, I am just now looking through this project and as mentioned above by Frank, I really like the different heights of the stretchers and what it does visually to the whole stool design.  Well done once again.