Thread: How the heck do I manage to do this?

Originally Posted by TORB

A friend of mine has ask me to "adjust" some stools. She suffers from 'ducks disease' and needs about 50 mm cut of the legs to that she get get onto them without a step ladder.

The problem is that the stool has four tapered legs. That means that when the feet on on the floor, for them to be level, they will not be 90 degrees and square to the length of the leg.

Cutting them square would be easy, but I have no idea how to cut them so that each leg sits flat on the ground.

Any suggestions please?

You could sit the stools on a level surface, then rest a pencil on a 50mm block and slide it across the surface around the legs, creating a line parallel to the flat surface, then hand saw them.

You can always cut the ends off square & slightly over-length, place the stool on a known flat surface and use a pencil (with some suitably tall "packer") to scribe around the bottoms of the legs to give you the "final cut line" with a good hand-saw.


Edit: I see Herm just pipped me. Same thing, different approach.

Do as Skew suggests but instead of sawing off leave the stool on your flat surface and rub the legs down with sandpaper,coarse then finer.

Sit them on level surface as said before but make a block up 48mm high clamp to each leg and cut off using the block as a saw guide.

Thanks guys. Some very useful suggestions. I will report back later with the results.

Economy of scale comes into question here. Would it not be better to stretch the lady in question? Only two legs requiring attention.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Economy of scale comes into question here. Would it not be better to stretch the lady in question? Only two legs requiring attention.

Will only work om wooden legs

Originally Posted by rustynail

Would it not be better to stretch the lady in question? Only two legs requiring attention.

Be more fun too. Worthy of a WIP thread, with pictures of course.


Peter.

Originally Posted by Hermit

You could sit the stools on a level surface, then rest a pencil on a 50mm block and slide it across the surface around the legs, creating a line parallel to the flat surface, then hand saw them.

The Schwarz made a video of this levelling a stool he had made.

Watch Level Four Feet | Popular Woodworking Videos Episodes | How To Videos | Blip

Instead of using 1 x 2" block to mark around the legs, you could use 2 x 2" blocks and nail them to her shoes.

Originally Posted by pmcgee

The Schwarz made a video of this levelling a stool he had made.

Watch Level Four Feet | Popular Woodworking Videos Episodes | How To Videos | Blip

That video raises a good point - I was assuming the stools were already level beforehand.

Originally Posted by tore

Will only work om wooden legs

Well not quite. There is a medical procedure that can add height to a person via breaking and stretching the legs below the knee joint. Of course I saw this on Youtube as a documentary, must be true.

Originally Posted by Christos

Well not quite. There is a medical procedure that can add height to a person via breaking and stretching the legs below the knee joint. Of course I saw this on Youtube as a documentary, must be true.

I have a mate who after a motorbike accident and leg reconstruction had that done he's still short but no longer walks lop sided.

Originally Posted by Christos

Well not quite. There is a medical procedure that can add height to a person via breaking and stretching the legs below the knee joint. Of course I saw this on Youtube as a documentary, must be true.

It's called an Llizarov Frame ilizarov frame - Google Search

Been used for traumas and leg extensions for ages

Not as quick as trimming 4 stools though.