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Toddler Stool, made over about 2 months. It's for toddlers and small children to stand on to access bench height activities, such as cooking.

Alternate finished view: https://pic8.co/d/04359db9-af16-47d2-ab76-6d298c88bf9a.jpg

It is made primarily from salvaged construction lumber, most of which was fairly old (at least 50 years old or more). I'll go through the construction process roughly in reverse....

The finish is Danish Oil, I use Organoil Danish Oil and cannot recommend it highly enough. It makes a beautiful finish and smells like oranges (not like chemical solvents). Nail holes and sap veins in the steps and frame were filled with clear casting epoxy. https://pic8.co/d/801d3d2b-3335-40d2-8c94-1aeed32a09e9.jpg

The main joinery for connecting the two sides are wedged through mortice and tenon joints. I sort of stuffed up a bit and made the tapers of the mortices a bit wide. To solve this, I cut a thin strip of Jarrah that I also used for the wedges to put on either side of the tenons. This turned a mistake into a feature. https://pic8.co/d/b314673a-554d-4bf9-bf24-3aef41490215.jpg https://pic8.co/d/65f6a5d1-b112-464b-9425-7089a523569b.jpg

Top rails are joined with blind mortice and tenon joints, partially intersected by the large cross dowel hand rails. https://pic8.co/d/7dad8b12-aeda-4c91-83d6-15fa920948fa.jpg

These hand rails were turned down to fit the holes on my metal lathe. Carbide tooling doesn't make a very good finish on wood, but it's fine for a tenon. https://pic8.co/d/45256888-979d-43bf-81e2-948fc648ea1a.jpg

Here's a shot of most of the bits, at some stage of production: https://pic8.co/d/ac96e633-8cf3-46e1-b1c9-957585624719.jpg

The rounded corners of the top frame were made on the table saw: https://pic8.co/d/a8a91b9f-2b40-4317-af84-9a6be6a5a41b.jpg https://pic8.co/d/6e17982a-f64c-4482-ab01-88cd836e3266.jpg

The curved member is made by glue laminating strips about 5mm thick. This curved piece is incredibly strong. https://pic8.co/d/ddb0168a-23b5-477a-ab5b-de530acb4a71.jpg https://pic8.co/d/93063bc6-c468-4d45-bc30-e5bb4c7bc1be.jpg

The curved wood was cleaned up with my compass plane, a tool not very commonly seen these days, and a spoke shave: https://pic8.co/d/f0198daa-d14d-4851-9b62-a56aa16a4fd2.jpg https://pic8.co/d/7039151b-95af-4e97-ac3b-670054f01239.jpg

After flattening one side of these curves with a hand plane, I used a jig of questionable safety to trim them to width: https://pic8.co/d/328f5130-bfb8-4d09-9035-4f358825b914.jpg https://pic8.co/d/19473576-b441-4e7f-84a7-3dd5e4265eae.jpg

The steps were made from reclaimed hardwood floor boards. The tongue and groove joints were tightened up, then glued and the top planed flat and smooth with hand planes. Tenons on each side were cut to fit support pieces, extended for the lower step to reach the back of the stool. The top stool is adjustable, locking bolts are attached with brackets that fit in a sliding dovetail (cut on a makeshift router table). The grain of the wood in the brackets is deliberately angled to increase strength (likely unnecessary): https://pic8.co/d/78dffcdd-ffb4-4cbe-ba08-f3248ca7741f.jpg https://pic8.co/d/521a4a5a-8259-4245-9a71-f3aceffdb3d3.jpg

The adjustment slots are cut using a jig on the table saw. It probably needed to be a bit more robust, but got the cuts accurate enough. A better approach might be to cut them within a mm or so of finished and finalize the cut with a chisel for a more accurate finish. https://pic8.co/d/89bf9024-be44-433d-b204-352d30e178c4.jpg https://pic8.co/d/930931a0-5647-4681-9408-552d11b06304.jpg

There's a few photos in this album that aren't included here: https://pic8.co/a/3f72579e-5985-4d5a-b4a6-6087f408a9e9/

Toddler Stool, made over about 2 months. It's for toddlers and small children to stand on to access bench height activities, such as cooking. Alternate finished view: https://pic8.co/d/04359db9-af16-47d2-ab76-6d298c88bf9a.jpg It is made primarily from salvaged construction lumber, most of which was fairly old (at least 50 years old or more). I'll go through the construction process roughly in reverse.... The finish is Danish Oil, I use Organoil Danish Oil and cannot recommend it highly enough. It makes a beautiful finish and smells like oranges (not like chemical solvents). Nail holes and sap veins in the steps and frame were filled with clear casting epoxy. https://pic8.co/d/801d3d2b-3335-40d2-8c94-1aeed32a09e9.jpg The main joinery for connecting the two sides are wedged through mortice and tenon joints. I sort of stuffed up a bit and made the tapers of the mortices a bit wide. To solve this, I cut a thin strip of Jarrah that I also used for the wedges to put on either side of the tenons. This turned a mistake into a feature. https://pic8.co/d/b314673a-554d-4bf9-bf24-3aef41490215.jpg https://pic8.co/d/65f6a5d1-b112-464b-9425-7089a523569b.jpg Top rails are joined with blind mortice and tenon joints, partially intersected by the large cross dowel hand rails. https://pic8.co/d/7dad8b12-aeda-4c91-83d6-15fa920948fa.jpg These hand rails were turned down to fit the holes on my metal lathe. Carbide tooling doesn't make a very good finish on wood, but it's fine for a tenon. https://pic8.co/d/45256888-979d-43bf-81e2-948fc648ea1a.jpg Here's a shot of most of the bits, at some stage of production: https://pic8.co/d/ac96e633-8cf3-46e1-b1c9-957585624719.jpg The rounded corners of the top frame were made on the table saw: https://pic8.co/d/a8a91b9f-2b40-4317-af84-9a6be6a5a41b.jpg https://pic8.co/d/6e17982a-f64c-4482-ab01-88cd836e3266.jpg The curved member is made by glue laminating strips about 5mm thick. This curved piece is incredibly strong. https://pic8.co/d/ddb0168a-23b5-477a-ab5b-de530acb4a71.jpg https://pic8.co/d/93063bc6-c468-4d45-bc30-e5bb4c7bc1be.jpg The curved wood was cleaned up with my compass plane, a tool not very commonly seen these days, and a spoke shave: https://pic8.co/d/f0198daa-d14d-4851-9b62-a56aa16a4fd2.jpg https://pic8.co/d/7039151b-95af-4e97-ac3b-670054f01239.jpg After flattening one side of these curves with a hand plane, I used a jig of questionable safety to trim them to width: https://pic8.co/d/328f5130-bfb8-4d09-9035-4f358825b914.jpg https://pic8.co/d/19473576-b441-4e7f-84a7-3dd5e4265eae.jpg The steps were made from reclaimed hardwood floor boards. The tongue and groove joints were tightened up, then glued and the top planed flat and smooth with hand planes. Tenons on each side were cut to fit support pieces, extended for the lower step to reach the back of the stool. The top stool is adjustable, locking bolts are attached with brackets that fit in a sliding dovetail (cut on a makeshift router table). The grain of the wood in the brackets is deliberately angled to increase strength (likely unnecessary): https://pic8.co/d/78dffcdd-ffb4-4cbe-ba08-f3248ca7741f.jpg https://pic8.co/d/521a4a5a-8259-4245-9a71-f3aceffdb3d3.jpg The adjustment slots are cut using a jig on the table saw. It probably needed to be a bit more robust, but got the cuts accurate enough. A better approach might be to cut them within a mm or so of finished and finalize the cut with a chisel for a more accurate finish. https://pic8.co/d/89bf9024-be44-433d-b204-352d30e178c4.jpg https://pic8.co/d/930931a0-5647-4681-9408-552d11b06304.jpg There's a few photos in this album that aren't included here: https://pic8.co/a/3f72579e-5985-4d5a-b4a6-6087f408a9e9/

(post is archived)

[–] 2 pts

Did you make a small one first to test the idea?

You know, a stool sample?

[–] 1 pt

Tenons are mavelous

[–] 1 pt

Nice project!

One suggestion, could use more jigs of questionable safety.

[–] 1 pt

Was going to ask if it was made from re-use lumber, I see that it was. Very nice.

[–] 1 pt

i like the design and finish. good job.

[–] 1 pt

First of all, that's pretty awesome. I appreciate the detail and the step by steps.

Secondly, I can definitely show you picks of butt made adult stool. lol

[–] 1 pt

Now that's awesome. What a great family heirloom. I bet your great grandkids will be using it.

[–] 0 pt

I have another one that is mine (with only minor differences to this one). This particular one was a gift to a family friend who just had a baby.

[–] 1 pt

What a champion. You do great work my friend.

[–] 1 pt

Looks Great!

Are you sure your toddler is smart enough to climb up it?

[–] 3 pts

This is the second one I've made. My son has had his for over 2 years (he's 3 1/2). He basically started using it as soon as he could walk. Uses it every day now.

[–] 2 pts

Nice!

Good to hear your children aren't as retarded as you are.

[–] 1 pt

This is the second one I've made

For a moment I thought you were referring to the first kid who wasn't smart enough to climb it