My Favorite Project Thus Far

[Philip Fiorio]

Greetings.

After a few months of woodworking under my belt, I set my sights a bit higher than butt joints and cutting boards.

My wife is gravity-challenged and I have a 10 month old baby girl. My wife asked me to make her a step stool.
I really like the one that the Hipster Carpenter made, but she wanted one with two steps.

I took some ideas from a book, but added some of my personal touches because I value creativity.

We used purpleheart and yellowheart for the steps, and cherry for the sides.

I used dowel joints where I could.

I finished it with thinned out BLO, and shellac.
It is heavy, but strong and supports my 250 lbs. easily.

I wrote a nice message with a sharpie on the inside. Once I put the shellac on it, the ink began to run... Bummer, I didn't see that coming...

I'll have to sand it down a bit and burn the inscription.

What do you think?

Is there anything different you would have done? Any constructive criticism? I am amazed by the work I see on this site by you all and value any of your opinions and advice.

Tanks!

[Frederick Skelly]

Looks good Philip!

[Von Bickley]

Great looking step stool and beautiful wood..... Welcome to the Creek.

[Mel Fulks]

I like the bold colors ,pattern ,and the addition of the note. Unless there is some bracing that we can't see ,I would be concerned about that short vertical grain of the sides. Would add braces held with screws to interior sides.

[Jim Becker]

I think you did an awesome job! I think that the hound wants to know if you expect him/her to walk up that thing! LOL

[Joe A Faulkner]

Looks good Philip. It looks like you glued up the sides out of two boards and the edge joint is under the back edge of the bottom step. If you used dowels to join those parts , you should be fine. If not, then as Mel suggests, you might want to run a cleat from the back of the back side all the way to the front under the bottom step to add some strength to the side and safeguard against the vertical grain giving way.

I made a similar stool thirty years ago - it was used primarily in the bathroom for the kids to reach the sink. It still is tucked away under a shelf in the bathroom and will probably see some use from grand kids some day.

[Philip Fiorio]

I like the bold colors ,pattern ,and the addition of the note. Unless there is some bracing that we can't see ,I would be concerned about that short vertical grain of the sides. Would add braces held with screws to interior sides.

Thanks for the heads up. I used dowels to connect the two boards. So short, vértice grain has a tendency to split? I'm still learning about the tendencies and movement of wood over time.

Do you think the dowels are enough? I'd prefer to not use screws. I think it's cool to avoid using any metal hardware.

Thanks again for offering some advice!

[Joe A Faulkner]

In terms of strength, all wood is stronger across the grain than it is with the grain. Because the sides of the stool are carrying a load, there will be stress on the sides and should it start to split it won't take much for it to fail. If you have dowels joining the boards, I think you will be okay. They will add substantial resistance to the downward shearing force placed on the step. For added strength you could attach cleats with dowels if you do not want to use screws or nails.

[terry gearhart]

Hello, the bench looks fantastic. IMOO, I would have used the exotic woods to better use. Sorry

[Mark Stutz]

Nicely executed. Before you take the sandpaper to the back, use some denatured alcohol and remove most of the shellac and maybe most of the sharpie ink. A lot easier than sanding it all back.

[Rob Luter]

Well done. My stepmother is a tiny person (4'10") and has a house full of step stools. Many woodworkers who hold her dear have made contributions. When she passes I'm not sure what we'll do with the collection. Some of them are amazingly cool.