Step Stool in Brown Oak - Finished

[The Shark]

Hi Olly,
I echo the sentiments in Gill's first paragraph, and look forward to seeing the completed project.

Malc

 

[OPJ]

Eventually, I took John's advice and chiselled several tiny triangles of oak to fill these gaps underneath the top. With a little more dark glue, this has worked really well. Not like it's ever going to be seen though. :wink:

While I was at it, I also chopped some bits of sycamore to fill the 1mm gaps either side of the wedges. I really couldn't be a***d to do the same with all the brown oak end-grain - it is a stool, after all. Years of feet and hard shoes stomping all over is going to do some damaged eventually anyway.

On the top, I did a bit scraping and planing but haven't made any attempt to fill those missing lumps. I can live with it and. I think my dog will get the most use out of this - she's always had trouble with one of her back legs and I've noticed her struggling to get up on to "her" settee recently... After a few weeks and plenty of claw marks, it isn't going to matter!

This stool has now received its first coat of oil. As I found with my college project, this oak is very dry and thirsty. I'll give it two more coats and probably a fourth as well.

(Notice how I'm still using a sheet of hardboard to keep my oiled workbench clean...! :roll: )

I'll upload more photos of the finished stool later in the week.

 

[Philly]

Looking great, Olly! The oil really brings out the colour of that Oak.
Nice one,
Philly

 

[Waka]

Olly

Really like that step up, its something I really need in my shop and when I've got time I'll have a stab at one. Do you have any plans, or was it off the top of your head?

 

[Benchwayze]

Yes.. I have to agree.. It has turned out to be a nice functional piece. It has just the right amount of decoration, taking nothing away from the clean lines.


=D> =D> =D>

John

 

[Paul Chapman]

Looks nice, Olly.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[chris_d]

Beautiful!

 

[LarryS.]

nice one olly, really like the stool, especially the clever angles (don't think my brain could manage them)

 

[OPJ]

Thank you, everyone.

Waka, it's not entirely my own design. Gill alluded to this earlier and it's from an American book titled Building Small Projects (yes, the cover's a bit of a give-away - that's what made me buy it, actually! ) I have made a few of my own changes though. I did a SketchUp drawing somewhere - if you're interested, I could e-mail it to you some time. :wink:

Paul, getting these angles right really isn't that difficult. An accurate full-size rod and accurate marking out are essential. The hardest apart (apart from fixing all the f**k-ups! ) was getting the length right on the rail correct.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Excellent Olly, and I'm glad you went to the trouble of fettling the little flaws. My dad always used to say that the difference between an amateur and a professional is the way h fixes his mistakes.

Brown oak is lovely. I made a T-bar stool for a neighbour some years ago and then she promptly died.... I still have a small piece kicking around waiting for something special on which to use it.

Nice job and it sounds like you learned a lot along the way. Success!

S

 

[Boz62]

Nice. Another inspiring project Olly. And particularly good to see the fixes, I can learn a lot from these .

Boz

 

[OPJ]

After four coats of Danish Oil and a dry afternoon to take some photographs, here is the finished stool:

I applied the fourth coat on Thrursday evening but then discovered on Friday morning that my leaky roof had left a puddle on the finished surface! :x So, I've cut it back a bit and have applied one fifth and final coat to the top only.

Really pleased with the way this has all turned out although I'd still like to try something similar with thicker timber, one day. Hope you've enjoyed following this, too.

Thanks you,

Olly.

 

[MikeG.]

Looks good Olly, well done!

I like the contrasting wedges and the angled edges to the top. Nice

Mike

 

[newt]

Olly that is a really sound looking job, I do like the brown oak, is the colour fairly close to reality. It looks as though it could last forever.

 

[laird]

Lovely proportions and colour. Step it up for a bench, then a table..............

 

[Corset]

Very nice work that. I think brown oak has a really lovely richness. I think it great that it will get some good use from the dog.
Owen

 

[OPJ]

Thanks, guys.

Pete, in reality, I'd say it's very slightly more 'orangey' than the first three photos. I'd expect this to dark over time, as most timbers would but, I've also heard that the staining can fade after a decade or so... :shock:

It's just like working with English oak will extra 'depth' in the grain. Only thing I've noticed is that the 'smell' isn't as strong as it usually is with English oak... That could be down to the staining or perhaps because this stuff was kilned? It's been great working with it.

 

[Chems]

Wow hasn't that turned out beautifully! Great job!

 

[motownmartin]

Another fine job Olly, your skills are definitely getting better and better

 

[woodbloke]

Can't see pics at the mo', will look tonight - Rob