03
Stool Project
One of the most challenging things about learning a new skill is being patient. Having to learn the basics before being able to realize your ideas can be frustrating, but it’s vital in the long run.
For this project, we were asked to create a stool. We were given creative freedom to create any sort of stool design we wanted, however, we were given certain guidelines. Firstly, we were only allowed to use a 2’ x 8’ wooden board, we were also required to use at least one of the joinery methods we had been taught.
Process
For my stool, I was inspired by the decoration in my apartment, which consisted of a lot of square shapes with a lot of negative space. I also wanted to keep in mind the limited space in my apartment, so I also wanted to create a stool that could be easily stored away, using up the least amount of space possible. For that reason, a geometrical, stackable object would be the best choice.
I started by measuring out all the specific lengths I needed to make sure that I could get all of them out of the 2’ x 8’ wooden board. Once I had the measurements checked, I had to figure out how I would lay out each piece on the wooden board to make sure I got the most out of the wood. This was also a bit challenging as I had to take into consideration the thickness of the table saw when I cut through (¼’’), as well as making sure that all the cuts I make are as precise as possible.
The joinery that I decided to go with was using dowels. To create these dowels, I had to use a specific drill jig which would help me create precise holes to match the size and placement of the dowels. Using dowels for the stool helped to fortify its stability. For the stool, I wanted to create something that could be easily stored, which was the inspiration for the use of dados to allow for the smaller “step” of the stool to seamlessly lock in so it takes up less space. I had to make sure that my dado cuts were precise enough so they wouldn’t be any wider than the base of the stool, since if not, then the smaller piece would not be able to lock in seamlessly.
This project taught me a lot since it was the first time I ever did any sort of woodwork. This meant that I went through a couple of issues when making the stool, such as making precise cuts and measuring the dados well. However, working through this and learning the basics helped me a lot as it gave me much more confidence when working with wood, and let me understand the material much better.