September 26, 2018

A Geometric Stool

Written by Andy van Stokkum. 3 min read

I had some timber and needed a seat for the kids to sit on. It’s a nice simple design and was featured on the website www.instructables.com.

How I made it

Materials

  1. Timber: Totara - A New Zealand hardwood, or whatever you have available!
  2. Dimensions: 40mm x 140mm x approximately 2000mm in total (you’ll cut 6 pieces as listed below)
  3. Gorilla grip glue
  4. 24 10mm dowels
  5. Ruler
  6. Pencil
  7. Extra wood for when you put in the vice
  8. 10mm spade drill bit
  9. Dowel markers or small nails
  10. Clamps
  11. Safety gear
  12. A drop saw
  13. Cordless drill
  14. A protractor or 30 degree angle

Cutting the wood

Legs: 40mm x 140mm x 310mm (3 pieces)

  1. To create a leg that narrows, mark 50mm down one side and 50mm across on the opposite corner, then draw a line between the two points. Cut off the wedge.
  2. Along the outer length of the leg, cut a 30 degree angle from a marked halfway point at the top using the drop saw.

Seat: 40mm x 140mm x 215mm cut on a 30 degree angle (3 pieces)

  1. Using the protractor, mark a 30 degree angle at the end of the wood (or set the drop saw to 30 degrees).
  2. Measure and cut one piece of the seat.
  3. Place that piece on the remaining length and mark the next piece to cut.

Assembling the Seat

Assemble your three seat pieces together to check they fit reasonably well. The shape can be trimmed if necessary later on. All the external angles are 120 degrees. Sorry, I forgot to get many photos of this step.

  1. With a pencil, mark evenly spaced positions where the dowels will join the seat pieces. I used 4 dowels per joint (12 dowels total for the seat).
  2. Drill dowel holes and test the fit.
  3. Apply glue and clamp. Try to get the joints as tight as possible.
  4. If the outer opposite edges are not parallel, trim to shape. Ensure the joints end at the points.
  5. Sand the seat.

Attaching the legs

  1. Number each leg and position it against the seat.
  2. Align the edges and trace the outline.
  3. Mark out the dowel hole positions on the seat. Either use dowel markers or small nails to align the centers. I used 4 dowels per leg joint.
  4. Drill the holes. Use tape on the drill bit to ensure you don’t drill too deep.
  5. Test the fit. Apply glue and clamp.

Finishing it

Give the stool a thorough sanding to ensure there are no sharp corners and all surfaces are smooth. Then apply polyurethane or oil to the stool. My preference is oil-based polyurethane as it’s very hard-wearing and won’t leave any marks on your white disco pants.