Tag: Studio

Staked stool #2

I’m teaching myself (with the help of books and videos) how to make staked furniture – that is, furniture where the leg is driven into a flat surface, usually the seat or table top. This style of building is very, very old.

This is the second stool I have made, and I didn’t use someone else’s plans, so that’s cool. For posterity, I used a 15 degree leg angle, a 1 inch leg tenon, and hide glue. The stool is made of Southern Yellow Pine (from a 2×12!) and has red oak wedges. The seat is 14 inches from the floor. I don’t think I would have liked it much lower.

The legs are a bit clunky – they were octagonalized from 1.5 inch SYP, and tenon turned on the lathe. Next time I will taper the legs, wide part near the floor, to lighten it visually.

For my second effort, I’m quite pleased, honestly.

Workshop improvements

I’m gearing up to begin making chairs, and needed a lathe bed extension to make that happen. But my old lathe bench wasn’t long enough, so I’m building a new one. It’s 2×3 construction, with 2 pieces of 3/4 plywood for the top. I’ll be adding shelves underneath. The sand is to add mass, to reduce vibration.

I put off getting an extension for ages, thinking I would just buy a nicer lathe. But the Wen 12×18 does everything I need it to do, which is mostly cutting tenons and tool handles and with a bed extension, chair legs.