Practice stool

[rhancock]

Its time I stopped buying stuff and actually made something. We've now got 3 little woodworkers, so I thought I'd make them a stool. The stool I want to make is a perfect cube, with sharp square corners and a single bar across the middle of each side, so it won't matter which way up they put it, it'll still be a stool. The sketch at the top of the image.

Problem is, to do that, the mortise in the top and bottom of each leg would need to near enough touch, like in the plan on the top right, and I think that'll weaken the joint. Is there a better way?

The bottom picture is a more 'standard' stool with offset m&t's, which I could fall back to if the cube is too hard.

I was planning to use 50x50 tas oak which is easy to get hold of, and is pretty much dimensioned. I only have hand tools so I'll save a fair amount of time and effort by buying ready to use timber, although I will still need to spend some time checking it for straight and square and dimensioning it.

Another question - what's the problem with tas oak? It gets a fairly poor rap here - why is that?

I thought of making the cube is to laminate 50x15 strips, but I think I'd just be avoiding cutting m&t's which is part of the point of the exercise!

Anybody want to help?

[thumbsucker]

Richard, at 50 mm thick that would be plenty of meat, maybe even to much, you could get away with 40 mm it would look a bit lighter. You could miter the end of the tenons so they miter each other inside the mortice, this will give you some extra length (35 mm instead of 15 mm) and glue surface. You could also add pins/dowels (draw boring) into the side that would make it very strong.

Tas Oak, is a mixed bag. Much is plantation grown, it is light, more akin to Styrofoam, old growth, and recycled stuff is much better. It is not a terrible timber to work. I have found it to be a little splintery.

For this kind of project, Tas Oak would be a good choice. It is cheap, easy to get, and if you make a mistake no major loss.

LEFT FIELD

Have you thought of doing a post and rung type stool. You could plane the stock, simple drill the mortice, and fit round tenon's. Then use jute/cord/lashing to make a woven set. It is a classical design, and you get your feet a little wet. It is achievable even with the most basic hand tools. You get to work out some of the challenges of making a stool, then you can explore the concept from there. I only mention this because because I did a workshop with Howard Archibold on Welsh stick chairs and now I am making a post and rung stool myself in my spare time. A very enjoyable project.

[rhancock]

Thanks TS, I figured I'm going to make a few mistakes, so I don't want to waste decent wood! I'll see if I can get hold of 40x40.

Mitring the tenons is a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. I'll see how good the m&t's are and maybe add pins afterwards - I'm trying to keep the outside surfaces clean.

[rhancock]

I did think about a post and rung stool, but the major point of this little piece is to practice m&t's - there are nearly 20! I also need to impress SWMBO and she prefers a more 'modern' style. This could take me a while - most stuff takes me at least 12 months, but there's no rush for this, I"ll just take my time.

[Glennet]

If you want to practice making joints by hand you could use a haunched tenon:

http://chestofbooks.com/home-improve...non-Joint.html

That means that you don't have the slots going right to the top (you mitre the tenons together as Thumbsucker suggested).

I'm renovating and building a wardrobe at the moment and using Tasmanian oak for the trim etc. because it is easy to get and easy to work, but I'll use something with a bit more character for the doors.

[rhancock]

Thanks, Glennet. The one on the stool you linked to is like this:

I'd thought to do this:

Do you think they're the same? I can see the top one has a sloped edge, but apart from that is there a difference?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The main advantage of the haunch - besides offering more glue area - is that it resists rotational forces better.

eg. the wood's less likely to try to "spin" in the mortise & snap the tenon (think of a dowel spinning in it's hole) when someone "slides" off the edge of the stool or [gasp! ] deliberately tries to twist the end rail.

You want to kiddy proof it? Go with the haunch.

[Glennet]

Thanks, Glennet. The one on the stool you linked to is like this:

I'd thought to do this:

Do you think they're the same? I can see the top one has a sloped edge, but apart from that is there a difference?

The haunched tenon is often used on a table. The main purpose of the upper bit is to stop the apron twisting and it can be quite short. It need not have a sloped edge.

The lower bit is the load carrying part. The two mortices come together so the holes join to form an 'L'. The tenons are mitred, that gives you a good glue area, particularly on the outside edge.

If you are using a chisel, make the depth of the first mortice to the near edge of where the other mortice will be (not to the full depth) so you don't have to chisel through an unsupported wall when you cut the second mortice.

[rhancock]

That looks good, thanks for that, guys. I'll put that in the design.