Looking to build a pair of small stools that will augment our tea room, I set about trying to scale them to the room, design a style that pleases, stores easily and provides comfort to the sitter. I will incorporate a Japanese influence to a style that I see in many of the construction sites around Dongguan … On the job-site they double as a small work bench, step stool, flip it over and you have a cradle to bundle fire wood, a 101 uses …
Thinking in three dimensions: step one, build a prototype that approximates the end goal. Saturday morning, Robbie is off diving with Gerald, I enjoy a 30 min fling with some left over “Doug-Fir” 2"x6".. cobbling together a 1:1 scale model.
Height: 15 ½", seat length 22", legs set at an 8º splay angle. Observations: it’s about: ½" too high .. seat; 2" too long, 5 ½" (nominal width of a construction 2x6 stud) too narrow. Overall 1 ½" material is just a tad thick .. maybe sculpt a curved seat, no, in this I want horizontal flat surfaces.
Not to worry this will be re-purposed as kindling .. cold nights approach. 
Using leftover Oak and Poplar from previous projects, I fashion stool No.1 .. most likely I should have it completed mid Sunday afternoon. The core is jointed and enjoys a squeeze.
Sunday: … What design for No.2? similar but not the same …. I’ll rummage and see what lumber is left.
A couple of hours: some finish joinery and a protective coat and we can put this one into service .
The finish of the finishing .. time to commission this “cutty stool” (colloquial humor) 
By 3:30 pm No.1 is complete. This works, a design I’m comfortable with.
Unobtrusive when not in use. Not much change in the tea set up .. Pu-erh and more Pu-erh this weekend …..
Raise your hand if you like this design. 
By 4:30 pm the second cutty stool is 80% jointed (had to buy some more Poplar) 
I made the stool a little wider, reduced the bulk in the legs .. creating the desired difference but with similarity and balance .. should have it wrapped up mid-week. Both in place .. finished up on Sat 11/7.
By the by: changed our clock back an hour, my least favorite .. dark too early!!
Definition: cutty stool (noun) (Historical Term in Scotland) the church seat on which an unchaste person sat while being harangued by the minister.
2 comments:
That looks fantastic dad, I need you to show me how to do some stuff for a project to work on come this Christmas break, I just need to figure out what to make haha
No problem Sean, C U in about 3 weeks. I need to re-build the tea table and a new table for the living room .. so I should be a wood working fool the next couple of months.
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