A Solid Cherry Beam Becomes a Cool Stool
Jan 23, 2012
First I measured and marked two lines for the finished height. In this case, our breakfast bar is 42" high, so I marked 30" for the stool height.
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At some point, I’d like to build a few counter stools for our new breakfast bar in the kitchen. They’ll be made out of curly maple and have a sculpted Arts & Crafts look. I have the material to make them, but time-wise, they are low down on my list of projects.
A few weeks ago, I had a cherry log milled up with a wood-mizer saw mill. (That’s another story, and a whole lot of fun. Click here to see the portable saw mill in action.) While we were cutting up the cherry logs, I had two shorter pieces (about 3 feet long) simply squared up. I thought I would use them as temporary counter stools in the kitchen. Later I could flip them over, and move them to the living room to be used as side tables.
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First I measured and marked two lines for the finished height. In this case, our breakfast bar is 42" high, so I marked 30" for the stool height.
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A circular saw set to full depth got the cut started...
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...and a hand saw finished off the cut.
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A low angle butcher block plane was the perfect tool for planing the top and bottom flat. Two clamps and two pieces of lumber on either side of the base held the beam in place for planing.
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A few swipes on all sides removed the saw marks from the portable saw mill.
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I was going to carve a contoured top, similar to a windsor chair seat, but I thought I would keep it simple and carve a circle. This way the stool can be positioned with any face being the front, or with a corner facing forward, which proved to be surprisingly comfortable.
I started the carving with a gouge, and I almost left it this way, but it looked a little too similar to a crochet doily.
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60 grit paper, sanding in a circle, smoothed things out pretty quickly. Switching hands once in a while, from right to left, added the "Karate Kid" experience at this stage.
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Finally a card scraper smoothed everything out.
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Boiled linseed oil for the finish.
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Here's the stool in place.
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I put a 12inch square of cork underneath the piece. It protects the floor, and allows you to pivot or slide the piece.
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Overall, for simply being a block of wood, the small carving on the top makes it very comfortable.
I think I'll add a foot rest at some point, but I haven't decided if I want to carve out a recess, or add a board with sliding dovetail of some sort.
Comments
To control cracking/checking, you may want to do what Japanese temple carpenters do with boxed-heart posts and beams: saw a deep longitudinal groove the full length of the piece in the center of one of the faces. As the piece dries, the groove will open up to relieve the stress.
-Steve
obviously you dont have small children
Steve,
If the groove was running vertically down the interior (facing the breakfast bar), I could incorporate a sliding dovetail running horizontally to hold the foot rest. Both grooves together would add an interesting design element. Great tip! Thanks,
John
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