My Bench Stool
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27 February 2017 at 1:36 pm #309579
Hi all,
I’ve been working on a bench stool which I started just after Christmas. It’s made out of sections of ratty pine 2x4s I had left over from making the workbench. I resawed (think that’s the right term) them with my trusty old S&J panel saw that I bought for 50 pence although having done this a few times now I’m beginning to think a rip saw with bigger teeth might be a worthwhile investment! I think the thing that I most impressed myself with on this project was how much my ability to dimension and square stock has improved, it’s like something clicked.
Overall I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, the joints have gone together well although I feel in general like I’m having to use too much clamping pressure to get them to close. In this case it’s because I cut my top rails slightly too short which had the knock on effect of showing angled gaps on all the joints. I had to recut the walls of the lower rails by a tiny amount to try to even things up. It was a good learning experience, but still led to them being slightly out, so clamps to the rescue! I enjoyed shaping the legs, I really didn’t think they’d turn out as well as they did. The radii on the rails came out pretty well, but a bit rough in places.
Carving the seat was fun, I used a gouge that was probably a bit small for the job, but it got through it eventually. I didn’t make a radius plane, but instead flattened the gouge marks with scrapers, followed by sandpaper. The finish is ok, a planed surface would be better I think. I guessed at the dimensions and it only just fits on the frame, I would have preferred a bit more overhang front and back. That said it’s comfortable and is a bench stool so I’m not getting hung up, just a lesson learned.
It’s finished with shellac and wax. I struggled to get an even finish with the shellac and there’s some runs and blotches visible despite rubbing down. Still not quite sure what I’m doing wrong.
Rob.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.27 February 2017 at 7:43 pm #309598Looks great to me Rob and the seat looks super smooth. Well done & thanks for sharing because it’s inspiring.
Regards
Craig
Hi Rob,
good work!
I shared your frustration with the shellac. I have found shellac easy for some projects with simpler shapes. The stool was much harder to finish well with shellac – whichever way you turn it there are always lots of tight corners and vertical surfaces and it’s really difficult to avoid runs and flooding with a brush… and they are always on a side you can’t see…
Mike
3 March 2017 at 11:52 pm #309777Thanks Mike. You’re spot on with the shellac, it’s always on the other side!
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