Shaker Step Stool

[butzla]

I built this step stool for a friends birthday.  It's based on Christian Becksvoort's plans in Finewoodworking #266.  Where his is designed for kids, I made mine an inch wider and 3" longer.  It's kind of simple, only 4 pieces of wood but once you get into it, there is considerable precision work that's not obvious at first glance.  He does all his joinery with hand tools, I used my Leigh jig for the dovetails and my Festool MFS for the through mortise.  That took quite a bit of trial and error tweaking. It has to be fairly tight for stability.  Now that the MFS is dialed in, I can repeat the process over and over.  I already have an order in from my wife and I'm sure there'll be lots more.  Fun project.

 

[Michael Kellough]

That’s a beauty.

 

[mike_aa]

It's so nice I'd be afraid to use it!

Mike A.

 

[Sparktrician]

Sweet!!!  It looks like curly cherry.  Am I right?  What's the finish?  [smile]

 

[butzla]

Nope just regular ole FAS 4/4 cherry.  I put 5 coats of General Arm-R-Seal in semi-gloss finish.
It's quite sturdy,  I'm pushing 250 and was on it this morning, rock solid.  The arm makes for a nice balance point for one of your hands as you step up.  I'm already working on another one!
Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

 

[lshah72414]

Beautiful job Jim. Love the handle!
I'm intrigued by your floors. Is that Hickory?

 

[FestitaMakool]

Wow, you do some cool furniture! And unusual.
This is something similar to what I’ve seen in old houses over here, and always thought they where both cool and useful. Kind of a design statement, in a simple yet complex, elegant form and with functionality in focus.

Very nice executed.

Like it so much I’d might copy it one day, it would be perfect having in the kitchen and hall area of my house.

 

[butzla]

Beautiful job Jim. Love the handle!
I'm intrigued by your floors. Is that Hickory?

It's not hickory it's oak and the color is "espresso contempo oak".  But get this, it's not wood at all....it's vinyl.  We just had it installed in March.  It's mounted to a substrate like Pergo  but unlike pergo, it's waterproof.  Clicks together like Pergo but you just score it and snap to cut it.  We absolutely love it.  The brand is "Core Tec"  The installer said it's putting wood flooring suppliers out of business and I believe it.  As a woodworker, I can't tell it's not wood.
https://coretecfloors.com/en-us/products

 

[butzla]

Wow, you do some cool furniture! And unusual.
This is something similar to what I’ve seen in old houses over here, and always thought they where both cool and useful. Kind of a design statement, in a simple yet complex, elegant form and with functionality in focus.

Very nice executed.

Like it so much I’d might copy it one day, it would be perfect having in the kitchen and hall area of my house.

Thanks,  I recommend the build highly.  It's simple, not a lot of material but there's enough head scratching to make it fun and challenging.  It's so small it's really easy to apply finish.  And the final product is quite functional.  I believe the Shakers put the long arm on there so they could hang it up on their high pegs on the wall.  They would hang all their kitchen chairs this way.  But it also serves another purpose of easy transport (no bending over).  And it's something to grab for balance when stepping up.  But apart from that, if you didn't use it for a step stool,  it would warm a corner with a nice potted plant on it.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Exactly, I believe so too. Namely the possibility to hang it, if convenient. And compared to a more conventional step stool the long handle means it’s easy to pick up and move around. And for those with lesser balance (and indeed for those with good balance as well) you can register one leg against the board when stood on it and reach above head.