Four legged stool

[busob]

Hi All
I am making 4 legged stool with mortice and tennon joints. Legs are 38mm square, tempered to 22mm and 750mm long. Top rails are 18mm x 43mm. Tennon is 9mm thick 34mm wide and 25mm deep. I'm doing it from some reclaimed mahogany like wood (ipepe, idigbo?). Wood is with interlocking grain and rubbish to plane with lot of tear out.
Is it enough to have one top rail. Or should I fit bottom rails as well? It will be a workshop stool ( if my wife won't still it like my 3 three leged stools ). I am pretty heavy (135kg).

 

[custard]

Hi All
I am making 4 legged stool with mortice and tennon joints. Legs are 38mm square, tempered to 22mm and 750mm long. Top rails are 18mm x 43mm. Tennon is 9mm thick 34mm wide and 25mm deep. I'm doing it from some reclaimed mahogany like wood (ipepe, idigbo?). Wood is with interlocking grain and rubbish to plane with lot of tear out.
Is it enough to have one top rail. Or should I fit bottom rails as well? It will be a workshop stool ( if my wife won't still it like my 3 three leged stools ). I am pretty heavy (135kg).

750mm is pretty long...and 135Kg is pretty heavy!

I'd fit some stretchers/rails around the bottom, but fitting rails into tapered legs can get a bit tricky. Not really tricky, just a bit tricky! You'll need a full size plan or rod and you'll need to work slowly and carefully.

Good luck!

 

[busob]

Legs are not only tempered but also splayed. Just couple degree. I thought to finish top rails, clamp them and then scribe angles on bottom rails.

 

[custard]

That's a plan...but it's not quite the best plan!

Better that you do exactly what you suggest, but then lay that assembly on top of a full size plan and check the angles on the top rail are positioning the legs exactly where they need to be. Do that and you've got a chance to tweak the tenon shoulders with a chisel or a shoulder plane to correct any problems. Basically you want all four sides to be the same rather than having one leg cocked out at an odd angle.

Good luck!

 

[busob]

Problem is there is no full size plan. There is no plan . I will try to lay all four sides with top rails fitted and mark it on some plan. I think I need to do two pairs of bottom rails as it's to thin on bottom of the legs to have a mittered tennon.

 

[--Tom--]

Making a table with splayed and tapered legs at the moment. Made a full size prototype out of scrap pine to get my head around the angles and joints.
Went pretty well, and means making it in decent wood should be without surprises

 

[busob]

So it's finished.
Don't have pictures of previous steps, but legs were hand planed to final dimensions, temper was cut on the bandsaw freehand and then hand plane. Top 150mm of leg is flat and square. I set the angle to have a leg pitch at the bottom with same dimensions as the top. I've set angle on sliding bevel and cut top rails with this angle. Than I've chopped mortises

Just to remember, measure twice, cut once

Not all joints are perfect

After advises from this thread, I have added bottom rails. With clamped top rail, I've laid all for sides on the scrap plywood sheet and draw around legs. Legs at the bottom were off by 10-15mm so I took average for length of bottom rails and cut them. I also took a new angle on my sliding bevel as legs are splayed and tempered. Rails end up as 18mm x 20mm. Than cut M&Ts and dry fit them.
It looks pretty close.

Than I glue it up. In two stages.

And it's glued

I'm happy with joints, as this is my 4th project with M&T

 

[busob]

Top was done from ash parquet. T&G was trimmed and boards were planed.
Top was laminated from 7 planks.

It end up pretty well with almost invisible glue lines.

All was oiled

And then assembled together. I screw top to rails with metal angles.

Now summarizing.
Stool is too tall and seat is two big
Bottom stiles are two low and there is no support for feet.
Next one will be better

 

[xy mosian]

Well done that man. You have come across snags, and sorted them. That, if not a stool, would do well in as a table for a lamp. Keep it up, the good work that is.
xy

 

[Jacob]

Top was done from ash parquet. T&G was trimmed and boards were planed.
Top was laminated from 7 planks.
View attachment 12
It end up pretty well with almost invisible glue lines.
View attachment 13
All was oiled
View attachment 11
And then assembled together. I screw top to rails with metal angles.
View attachment 14

Now summarizing.
Stool is too tall and seat is two big
Bottom stiles are two low and there is no support for feet.
Next one will be better

Looks good.
Next time have a look at a good stool first?

 

[busob]

Next time have a look at a good stool first?

That was a problem. On Youtube there is a lot of stools done with pocket holes, or just ordinary screwed through. I was improvising

 

[MikeG.]

.........Stool is too tall and seat is two big
Bottom stiles are two low and there is no support for feet.
Next one will be better

No, fix this one. Cut off the legs above the lower stretchers and below the upper ones, put two new stretchers in at the height you need to rest your feet on (the legs should flex enough to let the tenons work). Take the seat off and make a better one.

 

[thetyreman]

this is exactly why you always need a plan

 

[Inspector]

It was suggested it is a good lamp table but I see it also as a plant stand. I don't like the flat seat because my butt isn't. It will look good as a stool once you work out the kinks.

Pete

 

[El Barto]

Really good job! When you first described it I couldn't really picture it but the finished product is lovely.

As for the height and other dimensions, what's helped me in the past (and still does) is to see what kind of height chairs/stools etc are from Ikea and other furniture retailers. They all tend to be roughly the same height.

As for planning, I like making it up as I go along too.