# Alan Peter's music stool...Dun



## woodbloke (21 Feb 2010)

Having got an oddment of material left over from my main project, I've decided to crack on with one of these, which has long been on my 'tuit' list:







which is one of Alan Peter's designs from his book 'Cabinet Making - the Professional Approach' I didn't quite have enough material for a full size stool so my one's been scaled down to threequarter size.

Material is air dried English Oak...none of your AWO here  all jointing will be exposed and wedged. I got all the main pieces glued together today, so next will be marking out the joints. Nick Gibbs in BW recently made something similar iIrc - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (21 Feb 2010)

woodbloke":92rs4u59 said:


> I didn't quite have enough material for a full size stool so my one's been scaled down to threequarter size.



Do you have a 3/4 size piano :? :lol: 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## wizer (21 Feb 2010)

Looking forward to this one. I've looked at that stool with interest and intent on a few occasions.


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## woodbloke (21 Feb 2010)

Paul Chapman":6tfo2jkf said:


> woodbloke":6tfo2jkf said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't quite have enough material for a full size stool so my one's been scaled down to threequarter size.
> ...


The actual full size seat is 660mm long...if you measure it with tape, that's quite big! The length of my seat will be 500mm which is about the width of a normal dining room chair. Top will be dished using a convex sole woody, yet to be converted from a standard jackplane - Rob


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## Chris Knight (22 Feb 2010)

Rob,
Image removed?


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## Mr Ed (22 Feb 2010)

waterhead37":3uiur6wm said:


> Rob,
> Image removed?



maybe the copyright police are on to him :lol:


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## wizer (22 Feb 2010)

I suspect Rob himself has changed something ?

It's still on his blog:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ueSMRXK6254/S ... /Scan1.jpg


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## woodbloke (22 Feb 2010)

waterhead37":fo2b8ltm said:


> Rob,
> Image removed?


Done nuffink 8-[ ...not guilty. Pic now re-loaded - Rob


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## woodbloke (19 Mar 2010)

Bit of an update on this little project.

Top ready to be joined, biscuits are:






offset as the top will be dished. Top now glued:






together. Blocks either side of joint to ensure that there's no 'step.' Marking out the mortises for:






the top, with mortises cut with a router. Note the marks:






to show the limits of the cut. Eight completed mortises:






which have now to be squared out at the ends and then elongated by a mm each side on the top to allow for the wedges. These mortises will be filled with softwood prior to dishing the seat with a convex soled woodie - Rob


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## wizer (19 Mar 2010)

Very nice work Rob. I have just started the last chapter of AP's book and it covers this stool first so it's fresh in my mind. I really like it and am looking forward to seeing your progress.


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## OPJ (19 Mar 2010)

Good to see progress is under way on this one, Rob.


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## big soft moose (19 Mar 2010)

following this with interest as i bought swimbo a piano recently and need to make a stool to match - i have acquired a oak table on ebay which i'm going to butcher for the materials


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## woodbloke (30 Mar 2010)

A little more work's been done on the AP stool: 






the cross-rail or stretcher, is shown with the tenons machined to the correct thickness...1.5mm coming off each side. The saw slots for the wedges have yet to be cut. 

A general shot of a dry run to test the fit of the stretcher joints is shown: 






The seat fits each of the twin tenons individually but I've yet to assemble it onto the main frame, again saw slots for wedges have yet to be cut. This needs to be done when the stretcher rail has been fully pulled up tight to the shoulders... [-o< 8-[ Rough shaping has been done on the sides and the curve on the bottom has been marked out from a template. 

If all goes well, the dishing of the seat will be the next job - Rob


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## mickthetree (30 Mar 2010)

oooo, this one looks like a cracker.

Looks like you've really got the grain matched nicely with those boards too. Makes such a difference to the end result.


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## woodbloke (30 Mar 2010)

mickthetree":9f5v7if4 said:


> Looks like you've really got the grain matched nicely


Some bits do and some don't, unfortunately, as it was made from odd bits from a board full of knots and splits. I'd got all the decent stuff out of it for my other project and the wood for the stool was what was left...hence the mismatch in places - Rob


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## Ironballs (30 Mar 2010)

I feel we'll be seeing a compass plane before long....

Very precise work as usual Rob. One query, the knife marks for your mortices go right across the piece, is the plane to remove these with a swipe of the plane?


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## woodbloke (31 Mar 2010)

Ironballs":1ijw9402 said:


> I feel we'll be seeing a compass plane before long....
> 
> Very precise work as usual Rob. One query, the knife marks for your mortices go right across the piece, is the plane to remove these with a swipe of the plane?


If Rob Lee would extract the digit, then there might be a bit of compass plane work :lol: ...Martin let me have a very nice older Record though, so I don't need one desperately.
I usually do knife lines very faintly if they're to be removed later (which these will be at cleaning up time) and only the bits where a chisel has to register are knifed in heavily - Rob


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## woodbloke (30 Apr 2010)

Finally got this little project finished: 
















Very little sanding was done on it apart from the top, so the finish was straight from the plane with a light pass from a cabinet scraper in places and then a a quick going over with 150g. Applied finish is two coats of matt Osmo Poly-X with some Alna teak wax over the top. The curve at the bottom of each leg was bearing cut in and then the chamfer made with LV 'shaves...again, no sandpaper used. Aris's taken off with the LN block, not sanded. There were one of two problems with wedging the top joints which can be seen more clearly on the latest Blog entry. I managed to fudge it so it's not too unsightly  but it's a shame it happened
Material is air dried English Oak with Wakansian rosewood wedges - Rob


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## xy mosian (30 Apr 2010)

Now that's tasty!
Great stuff.
xy


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## Oryxdesign (30 Apr 2010)

Super!


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## Mattty (30 Apr 2010)

Thats really lovely Rob. Very good work.


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## Alex (30 Apr 2010)

Very cool. 8) I'm really liking the dished seat. Is it a good fit for the derriere!


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## wizer (1 May 2010)

Excellent Smithers! When my wife saw me staring at it earlier she said "That's like the stool you was going to make..........._but never did!_" :roll: :lol:


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## gasman (1 May 2010)

It looks lovely Rob - beautiful craftsmanship and taste
I am interested to know how comfortable it is to sit on - the edge against the back of your knees looks like it might be uncomfortable??
Cheers


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## woodbloke (1 May 2010)

Thanks for the nice words chaps...appreciated. Nothing is ever perfick and there are faults in it. In an ideal world each of the pieces would have been bookmatched, but my lump of oak was around 30mm ish and full of knots and splits so I had to mix and match as well as I could...only the thinner central rail is bookmatched. 
Having had a quick park of the derriere on it just now, it's quite comfy so the dished seat works well...using the curved sole jack is something that I'll probably incorporate in some other pieces later on.

Chisel prepping next...  - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (1 May 2010)

Very nice, Rob =D> Good to see you got the wedges sorted - doesn't really show unless you know about it.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## OPJ (1 May 2010)

That looks fantastic, Rob. Well worth the effort of making your own plane! A great finish. :wink:

I think the top is fine the way it is. My eyes, at least, are drawn to the wedged through tenons. I would fear that these would only detract the viewer's eyes away from a book-matched top (plus, there's that beautiful curve to admire! ).

The only thing that concerns me is the the shaping at the bottom of the legs or ends. To me, they look a little dainty, with oak being all open-grained and perhaps liable to flake off, if dragged fiercely along a hard floor... ?

Are you back on the TV cabinet now then?


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## woodbloke (1 May 2010)

OPJ":12y5yf0s said:


> The only thing that concerns me is the the shaping at the bottom of the legs or ends. To me, they look a little dainty, with oak being all open-grained and perhaps liable to flake off, if dragged fiercely along a hard floor... ?
> 
> Are you back on the TV cabinet now then?



Olly - 'praps this makes the detailing at the bottom of the legs a little clearer?







You can see there's a wagon bevel at each 'foot' that tapers to nowt (or a very small chamfer in the middle) and this is on both the inside and outside of the legs

Chisels first and then it's back onto the Media Unit... - Rob


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## jhwbigley (1 May 2010)

Nice work rob, I really like it. The rosewood wedges go with it well.

i'm glued to my Alan Peters book, some bloody good stuff in it.

Edward Barnsley liked to have his craftsmen finish straight from the plane or shave, but admitted on felling it, "it was a bit rough"

:lol: 

Cant wait to see the TV unit.

JH


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## Chris Knight (1 May 2010)

Looks superb! The exposed joinery is very neat .


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## TrimTheKing (1 May 2010)

Very nice Rob =D>


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## Benchwayze (2 May 2010)

Very nice Rob.. Clean and crisp work. 

I am a fan of finishing straight from the plane too. 
I love to feel the slight ripple from the cut of a rounded iron. 

(I like Thompson's work too, but the adze leaves a slighty 'too-rippled' surface for me. Still very tactile furniture mind.)

If I made one of these full-size, (assuming I could) I wonder if it would accommodate my posterior?


Thumbs up from me. 

John


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## woodbloke (2 May 2010)

Benchwayze":3pcycvv5 said:


> Very nice Rob.. Clean and crisp work.
> 
> I am a fan of finishing straight from the plane too.
> I love to feel the slight ripple from the cut of a rounded iron.
> ...


John, this one's about 3/4 size...a full sized version is quite big when you start to measure up the timber.

Whether the seat curvature will fit your curvature is another matter entirely :wink: :lol: :lol: - Rob


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## Ironballs (2 May 2010)

Excellent job Rob, nice tip about the softwood inserts in your mortices to protect the edges whilst planing. I'll remember that one


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## Benchwayze (2 May 2010)

Rob, 

I just took an impression from my PC chair. Yes I think I could fit the 3/4 size seat! :lol: 

 

Regards
John


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## Harbo (2 May 2010)

Nice one Rob - how comfy is it - may need a cushion for my aged posterior?   

Rod


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## woodbloke (2 May 2010)

Harbo":1hxrsayw said:


> Nice one Rob - how comfy is it - may need a cushion for my aged posterior?
> 
> Rod


Surprisingly comfy...fits the contours quite well :wink: :lol: It's also the right height for putting me feet up on (with a cushion underneath) when SWIMBO's got the leather poof (sp 8-[ ) if we're watching a bit of telly of an evening - Rob


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## eoinsgaff (3 May 2010)

Hey Rob, 

I've had this stool in mind for a while now but put it on hold to see how you got on. It looks positively noble. Wonderful work.

Looking at Alan Peters design it appears that the stretcher tenon's are not through tenon's. Am I correct in this?How do you think this element turned out? 

Just considering how I might approach it.

Regards

Eoin


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## woodbloke (3 May 2010)

eoinsgaff":2pocaqm3 said:


> Hey Rob,
> 
> I've had this stool in mind for a while now but put it on hold to see how you got on. It looks positively noble. Wonderful work.
> 
> ...



True enough, the stretcher tenon's are housed into the ends...not too clear in the book how it's done. I decided to go for three through tenons that were wedged and exposed, I've done a few of them now so they don't present a huge problem.
I think they turned out quite well and certainly draw the eye to that part of the piece.
If you want to go down this route of exposed jointing, then a practice piece is recommended as once you've got all the niggles ironed out it becomes much easier - Rob


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## Benchwayze (3 May 2010)

My feelings exactly Rob. 
I have some Parana Pine I could use for a prototype. it would get it out of the way too! 

I was just wondering how a piece like this would live with a Hay-rake occasional table mind! 

Regards
John


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## newt (3 May 2010)

Very nice Rob high quality workmanship as usual.


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## woodbloke (3 May 2010)

Benchwayze":9aszitft said:


> My feelings exactly Rob.
> I have some Parana Pine I could use for a prototype. it would get it out of the way too!
> 
> I was just wondering how a piece like this would live with a Hay-rake occasional table mind!
> ...


 
John - I'd go for it...it's an interesting project to do and if you've got some gash parana pine loafing around that's the right thickness, you'll be able to get all the problems sorted before you do it for real with the oak. 

Regarding whether this would go with the Hay-rake? My own view is that any well made, well designed (and you can't get better than AP) and decently proportioned piece will sit well with any other furniture of whatever denomination, be it antique or contemporary - Rob


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## Benchwayze (3 May 2010)

Cheers Rob, 

Looks likely then I shall be adapting an old wooden plane, to make a 'round-sole' jobbie. 

As it happens I can see where you are coming from, with your idea of good furniture from any period sitting well with another. Trouble is, if I make it, will it be good enough! :wink: 
As I have some quarter-sawn oak too, then it better be!

Just reminds me; I have to find my copy of AP's book! It got moved when I gave my daughter a temporary home! 

Regards

John


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## eoinsgaff (3 May 2010)

woodbloke":1i50c1qg said:


> eoinsgaff":1i50c1qg said:
> 
> 
> > Hey Rob,
> ...



Rob

thanks for the reply. Again, well done. I look forward to making the stool - imitation is the highest form of flattery!!!

Eoin


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