Stool Mania
I recently watched Rex Krueger's video below on how to build a three-legged stool and got inspired to build one myself. We could use another stool in the garage.
Video sourced from YouTube here.
Selecting a piece of Monterey Cypress left over from my veggie garden build, i rewound the video and followed along on my workbench (not on a log). The cypress was easy and pleasant smelling to work with and in a few hours i finished the assembly. A dose of tung oil and paste wax finished the piece beautifully in a light-orange, satin sheen. A bit chunky, but nice. Too nice for the garage, though.
Still enthusiastic, i made another stool the next day, this time out of scrap pink framing pine and on the lathe at my local community workshop, trying to learn to turn. I received beginner's instruction at the machine and shaped the legs and seat tolerably well. A bit skinny and pink, but also nice and better befitting the garage. (You can see my sneaker marks on it already.)
Now for my masterpiece stool, i thought the following weekend, the Goldilocks of the group, made from rescued rimu. I will make the legs octagonal with a hand plane, i will make the seat wider for greater comfort then round it perfectly on the lathe, and at the end, it will be just right.
Yeah, the lathe was a bad idea. Nothing catastrophic, but my noob technique tore the seat's end grain, which i couldn't fix by sanding. Should've rounded it by hand, i mumbled, but look at those proportions! They're just right and that finish pretty pretty.
Here are some family photos.
Look up, everyone!
What a fun project, and now we have so many stools to stand and sit on! But you know what would be more comfortable for long-stretch sitting? A scooped seat. Back to the workshop...
Update 2024-08-05: I made a rimu stool with a scooped seat.
Not having a travisher, the right, rare tool for the job, i scooped the seat with a hand plane, flat-bottom spoke-shave, and orbital sander. Then i finished the stool with boiled linseed oil and paste wax.
After several days of computering from home on it, i can confirm that it is indeed comfortable for long-stretch sitting, at least with a cushion on top, and my new home-desk stool.