(Mostly) Hand Tool Project- Step Stool in Cherry

[Adam Johan Bergren]

I have been making progress on the step stool that appears in the following links:

http://www.mlwwoodworking.com/step-stool.html

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki....aspx?id=31925 (http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=31925)


I had a 5/4 cherry board that was 10' long by 8.5" wide, and I got all of the parts from this single board. To be fair, I did cut the board apart using power tools, but this is the only thing I'm doing with them.

After cutting apart on the table saw, I flattened them by hand using a Veritas low angle jack plane, going diagonally. I now have the Veritas scrub plane on my wish list, but the jack got the job done with a lot of checking with a straight edge and winding sticks.

Next, I squared-up the edges using the jack plane and a small try square.

After flattening one face, I determined the thinnest part of any of the boards (incidentally this was 0.996") and set my marking gauge to this thickness. After scribing a line around all of the boards using the flat face as a reference, I thickness planed the other face to the scribe line, again checking often for flatness and wind. This sure was a great workout!!!

After a bit more cheating but cutting to rough length on the table saw, I squared-up the ends of all boards using a Veritas low angle block plane (I also used the Jack, but the block plane gave me more control). Now I wish I had a shooting board, as it was pretty tiring to clamp the board in my crappy vise and plane end grain, while checking often for square in both dimensions using a try square and a 12" combination squre. At least I was able to get everything perfect, as my table saw is way out (I don't have a cross-cut sled), and I had to plane about 1/32 or so off of each end of each board!

Finally, I cut the taper on the back boards and planed them flat.

Now I need to lay out the dovetails and get busy cutting joinery! I am a little intimiated, but I also can't wait!!

The picture below shows a mock up fit, showing how I have selected the grain to run in the same direction. I think the mock-up fit shows that this is going to work well! I have to thank Thomas Macdonald, who designed the stool, and also gave excellent tutorials on how to select grain. I have never paid more attention to grain selection than in this project, and I think it is going to pay off!!

Any comments welcome, and I hope to have time to post more follow up pictures. I am pretty busy during the week with my job, but I am excited seeing the mock-up, so I think I'll be inspired to lay out and start cutting the joinery ASAP.

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Additional pictures:

[John Keeton]

Adam, I have seen this stool and it is a neat project. I admire your adherence to the hand tool scheme - and, it is coming along very well. Great job on the grain match!

[Pam Niedermayer]

They look real nice, except for those stretchers/aprons that are raised above the step. What's the reasoning for this? Seems to me it would be a great way to trip.

Pam

[Robert Rozaieski]

Looks like a good start. Keep at it! And very nice job on the grain orientation.

FWIW, T. Mac. does really stress baord selection and grain orientation a lot, and for good reason. Selection of material is something that seems to get glossed over in the magazines and books, I'm guessing because it's not interesting to write about (articles on perfect dovetails sell more issues than how to pick a piece of dirty wood out of a stack at a cold, damp, dark, dusty lumberyard). It's really too bad more print isn't focussed on material selection though because it's one of the most important parts of the piece. Choose your boards improperly for a given project or part of a project and you can completly ruin the look or integrity of the finished piece, even if the joinery is executed flawlessly (DAMHIKT). Choose wisely however and those slightly gappy dovetails all of a sudden seem to go unnoticed.

[Brent Smith]

Looking good Adam. As mentioned before, your grain selection is outstanding. Choosing the right lumber can turn a simple project into an eye catching piece.

[Adam Johan Bergren]

They look real nice, except for those stretchers/aprons that are raised above the step. What's the reasoning for this? Seems to me it would be a great way to trip.

Pam

Pam, none of the joints are cut yet. This was a simple mock-up just to make sure that everything was the right length/width/etc. I will begin laying out and cutting joinery soon (hopefully after work tonight!).

AJB

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Here is a shot of most of the hand tools I have. As you can see, probably the main thing to focus on is a work bench. The only thing I might get before that is a nice dovetail saw. I currently am using a Vaughn Bear Saw Ryobi, and it does work very well for the price paid. However, I've never used anything else, so I'm not exactly sure if there would be any benefit to a different saw.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pam, none of the joints are cut yet. This was a simple mock-up just to make sure that everything was the right length/width/etc. I will begin laying out and cutting joinery soon (hopefully after work tonight!).

AJB

I see, just a bit slow last night. Thanks.

Pam

[Joe Cunningham]

Looking good! Yes a shooting board is very helpful for squaring things, but it is nice to see someone 'just do it' despite not having all the tools or appliances. Too often it seems people think they need this tool or that tool or have to build some fancy jig or appliance to start on a project.

That cherry looks...well, cherry (as they say in the classic car world). :cool:

[Adam Johan Bergren]

I have made some progress. I got the tails laid out and cut! I still have a lot of clean-up to do, but at least it is getting there!

Pictures show the steps with tails cut, yet to be cleaned-up. One thing I was amazed at when I marked the base lines was that the thickness of all boards was within 0.010". I guess this surprised me for my first effort in thickness planing by hand, as I've always been led to believe that only a power tool could be this precise.

Anyway, I'm definitely happy with the progress, but I can see that a better dovetail saw would help (notice the sides of the tails are not all that smooth).

Hopefully more time tomorrow to clean these up, and then transfer information to pins!!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

More pictures...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Okay, I've made some progress. I was able to get the waste out from between the tails with no problems. I just went slow and gradually chopped to the line. After final clean up, I transferred the tail profile to the pin boards, and cut out the bulk of the waste.... I'm now off to clean up the pins and try and get this ready for glue up!!

Oh, and no making fun of my fancy vise or my awesome work bench. realize it is deficient, and I am upgrading it before I buy any more tools or anything else for woodworking! :o

Thanks for looking!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

More pictures...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

More progress! I was able to get a dry fit for two of the dovetail joints, and then glued up the right side! Off to chop some more!

[Matthew Dunne]

It's looking good. Thanks for posting the build pics.

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Thanks Matt, it is encouraging to hear that someone appreciates this!

The latest photos are shown below. I've got both sides glued up and have smoothed the inside surfaces. I have laid out the tails on the stretchers, and will begin cutting them soon (tomorrow night, hopefully!). Just need to cut the curves in the bottom of each side, and curve the stretchers, then transfer marks from the stretchers to cut the "pins" on the sides. Then on to smoothing of outside surfaces and gluing on steps and stretchers.

Thanks again!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

More pictures...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

and even more...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Finally have some time to post some more progress pictures! The partial fit shown was so that I could fit the stretchers. The fit is tight enough that I didn't want to push it all the way down, which is why it is only partially fit.

Next is smoothing/scraping of the curved stretchers with spokeshave and scraper (I cheated here for the curve by using a bandsaw for the bulk of the cut- shame on me!:D).

I have already glued up the steps and one stretcher, and will hopefully have more pictures soon!

AJB

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Okay, just some touch up smoothing and finishing to go!!

All-in-all, I am satisfied with how this turned out. Certainly a lot of room for improvement, but I learned a ton doing this!

There are a few gaps and some other imperfections, but as this was the first majority hand tool project and only the second time with hand cut dovetails (the very first with a non-compressible wood), I at least recognize where I need to improve. It took me until the very last dovetail (on the back stretcher) before I obtained a tight fit off the saw that did not require parring. That experience shows that I should be able to do another stool in about half the time (this one has about 20-30 hours in it, from rough to where you see it now). Only power tools were table saw for initial cutting apart, and a band saw at a few select locations. All flattening, thicknessing, four squaring, and joint cutting 100% hand tools.

Thanks for looking, and any comments (good or bad) welcome!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

More pictures...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

and more pictures...

[Adam Johan Bergren]

On final shot...

[John Keeton]

Adam, the stool turned out great!! Sorry to have not commented along the way, but you did make steady progress, and honestly, the time it took you is not at all unreasonable for the amount of handwork involved. The dovetails look very good, and the best part was there was no "oh crap" moments where you had to scrap a board and start over!!

Great job, and great result! So, what is the finish going to be?

[Pam Niedermayer]

Looks great, Adam, and very sturdy, good job.

Pam

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Adam, the stool turned out great!! Sorry to have not commented along the way, but you did make steady progress, and honestly, the time it took you is not at all unreasonable for the amount of handwork involved. The dovetails look very good, and the best part was there was no "oh crap" moments where you had to scrap a board and start over!!

Great job, and great result! So, what is the finish going to be?

John,
Thanks! I certainly was concerned that I might need to make another board, as this was the only cherry stock I had. Thus, I did take extra care to go slow and methodical. Regarding finish, I am going to apply 2 coats of boiled linseed oil and then several coats of super blonde shellac.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Very nice job Adam!

[Richard Dooling]

Very nice Adam. It has been fun watching this project progress. I'm glad you didn't have to scrap a board given the care you put into grain matching. that would have :eek:ed.

.

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Final finish is on- just need a buff after curing.

Thanks for looking!!

[Adam Johan Bergren]

Just one more: