Stools by Stuart
and
Stands by Stuart
Every stand (every stool) has a story.

Stool #1 - Prototype in Pine

Prototype

>The first stool was a prototype - proof of concept - and I made it out of some old pine board (actually it was the sides of an old waterbed.) [More..]

Stool #2 - First attempt at hardwood stool - Red Oak with Walnut center stripe continuing down legs.

First Hardwood Stool

Over the years Roland has given me lumber that he's cut from trees in his woods. This is beautiful stuff (Red Oak and White Oak) in 1" and 2" thicknesses and 6 and 12 inch widths. Perfect for these stools. [More..]

Stool #3: Red Oak with Walnut center stripe on top and legs ALL red oak.

Stool #3 with new owner

This is the only picture I can find of this stool. After building my first 7 stools, this is the first one I could bear to part with. A house (apartment) warming gift for a close friend. She seems happy to receive it. I hope it serves her long and well. [More..]

Stool #4: Red Oak with a walnut stripe in center and two edges - legs ALL red oak.

Third Hardwood Stool

Sometimes the process of preparing pieces of wood to glue them together (making them perfectly flat and square) takes off more wood than I expect leaving the width shorter than the length. In this case I fixed the problem by adding two contrasting bands of walnut to each side before cutting into the final octagon shape. [More..]

Raw Materials: Harvesting, milling, and processing lumber for stools and other projects.

Loading saw logs in woods

The lumber for making these stools has come from trees cut from family owned woodlands in north-western Wisconsin. Here we are loading Red Oak and Black Cherry logs for use in future stools, stands, and other projects. [More..]

Stool #5: First stool in White Oak - First stool with rounded edges - First stool from standing dead tree (airport).

First White Oak

I have often heard that trees that stand dead for a time produce poor quality lumber. This stool is made from 'firewood' that I'd cut from a white oak that had stood dead for many years before we cut it down. While splitting the wood for the stove, I found the grain and texture interesting enough that I sawed (chainsaw) a couple chunks and set them to dry in my greenhouse instead of burning. [More..]

Stool #6: Second stool in White Oak - Back to square edges - solid oak from fresh-cut, air-dried wood.

Second White Oak

This is really my first attempt at working with 'normal' white oak. I built this stool the same time I built Stool #5 and I kept this one pure white oak so I could see the full effect. I don't use stain on any of my projects because I believe the beauty of wood should be allowed to speak for itself. [More..]

Stool #7: White Oak with center walnut strip and two stripes inside each edge with rounded legs and a bevel edge on top.

Third White Oak

I 'messed up' more during the construction of this stool than any up to now. During the process I was beginning to think I was all thumbs and was loosing my mind. But in the process of 'correcting' the errors I ended up with a stool that I like very much. [More..]

Winter Break: For cancer surgery followed by workshop too cold for comfort.

Snowed in...

My garage / workshop is un-heated and un-insulated so when the weather is like this I hibernate in the house. This year I was also recovering from thee months of chemo followed by surgery in November to remove my cancerous bladder (and replace it with a Neo-Bladder fabricated from a piece of my intestine - what a trip, huh?) [More..]

Stool #8 ( and stool #9): It's almost August so it's taken me a while to get back into making stools after the winter. The next two are smaller and a little more refined.

Stool #8 - lighter and smaller

White Oak and Walnut. Smaller and a little lighter in weight.

Stands #4 and #5: These two stands are pretty much twins.

Stands #4 & #5 before finish.

These stands have taken all summer (2011) to complete. I feel bad about that but it's been a busy time in my life. I've work over 120 baseball games (Umpire) and we're in the process of taking down an old barn on our tree farm . These woodworing projects take a back seat.

I have also been working on a larger project in wood - not a stool or a stand - that is taking a lot of my time and attention when I'm in the wood shop mode.

None the less, I have managed to complete these stands before the garage gets too cold to work. [More..]

Stool #10: Made from rafter boards recovered from the demolition of the barn on our family farm.

Stool #10 - finished.

February 2012: This past summer we have been de-constructing the barn at our farm in North-Western Wisconsin. The roof of this barn had been blown off by a tornadon in 1952 and my father and brothers replaced it using materials from the old roof as well as lumber milled from logs harvested on the farm.
These logs were mostly Elm and many of the rafters were made from this lumber. I have used one of these rafters to build this stool. I believe it is a good way to preserve the barn in our memories. [More..]

Stand #6: This is a test piece to try out some new specs and techniques.

Stand #6 - finished.

February 2012: Stand #6 tested some adjustments to the proportion of the base to the top with the hope of making the stand more stable ( less tippy ) on thick carpeting. [More..]

I have stuck with Red Oak and Black Walnut for this stand. The top is 8 inches square and the base is 12 inches square.

Stands #7 through #10: Two pair of speaker stands.

Stand #6 - finished.

November 2011: While working through the assembly of Stand #6 I went ahead and cut out the parts for the next four (4) stands. Some assembly required.

As of February 2012 I have finished one pair and am now assembling the second. Working in the winter requires a lot of moving around. I decided the garage is too cold so I had to clean out my basement to get enough space to work. Not wasted effort but it took a long time.

More to follow ....

More sections (and stools / stands ) will follow soon.....