Leveling Stool Legs..

[Dave Winters]

o.k.- this is weird..
Just made a set of five bar stools, and the legs aren't even. Set the stool up on the tablesaw, which I figure is the most even surface around.
So the legs always are high on two diagonal legs, and I'm touching the high legs on the stationary disc sander. I can get the legs even, but if I rotate 90 degrees then they aren't... Same if I put them on the concrete slab floor. Makes no sense to me.. what am I missing? What's the best way to do this?
Thanks in advance.....

[Chris Friesen]

So the legs always are high on two diagonal legs, and I'm touching the high legs on the stationary disc sander. I can get the legs even, but if I rotate 90 degrees then they aren't.

This says that your surface isn't flat.

[harry strasil]

take them to where they are gonna be used, before you end up with short milking stools.

[Chris Ricker]

If your table is flat, put the stool on the table with 3 legs on the table and the 4th off of the table(next to the table).

Rotate the stool till the 3 that are on the table are flat, the stool is level, and the fourth is long.

Use the table edge as a marking guide and mark the fourth leg( the longest one) and sand just the long leg.

I've done this with success in the past, ending several attempts at frustration.

hope this helps!

[Don Stanley]

o.k.- this is weird..
Just made a set of five bar stools, and the legs aren't even. Set the stool up on the tablesaw, which I figure is the most even surface around.
So the legs always are high on two diagonal legs, and I'm touching the high legs on the stationary disc sander. I can get the legs even, but if I rotate 90 degrees then they aren't... Same if I put them on the concrete slab floor. Makes no sense to me.. what am I missing? What's the best way to do this?
Thanks in advance.....




I have had this problem on two occasions!

The first time it was for two wooden bar stools. I made a quick & dirty router jig:

1) The jig consists of a flat piece of MDF with holes in each corner. Make the hole size just-big-enough to allow the end of the leg to protrude above the surface.

2) Sit the stool, up-side-down, on a flat, level surface surface.

3) Jerry-rig a method to hold the jig in place - the shortest leg on the stool should be flush with the jig surface and the platform must be level. I used scraps of 2x4's screwed to the underside of the jig to secure the platform to the stool rungs with clamps.

4) Use a router to surface off the remaining legs that protrude above the jig surface.

Was all this work necessary? Maybe not, but it worked for me!


I found an easier way to solve this problem the second time was for a single wooden stool for the shop.

1) Sit the stool on a flat surface.

2) Place business cards under the short legs to make the stool sit level; a business card is typically 0.010 inches.

3) Install nail-on chair glides: Add shims for the short legs. I made my shims from the business cards. You can also use plastic coffee can lids, old credit cards, etc.

-Don







The stool did not have any glides to begin with, so the first step was install four nylon guides