Bar stools completed

[Kyle Stiefel]

Well, I finished my 2 bar stools this weekend which are for my kitchen where hopefully the new counters and bar top will get done sometime in the next few months (there is 1 guy in town who everybody wants to do this type of work and I am on his list).

The key note to take home for me on this project was MAKE A PROTOTYPE NEXT TIME. For some reason when I look at the stools I think kermit the frog. My biggest mistake is I should have placed my legs further towards the far corners of the chair. Some how it never fails on a project but i ran the grain opposite on one of the legs, such is life, character it will give the chairs.

So they are walnut and ash. I turned the legs and purchased the walnut dowels. They were finished off with Deft Danish and buffed. I am quite pleased with the comfort of the seats.

[Jim Becker]

Those are great, Kyle!

[Bill Huber]

Those are really beautiful stools, I would hate to set on them.

I love the contrast in the wood, great look.

[Aaron Hamilton]

How hard was that Ash to turn? I've only had one shot at that stuff and I ended up cursing it forever.

[Greg Cole]

Hey Kyle,
Nice job, I like the wedged joint in the seat. The color of the lighter ash draws the eye to examine the sculpted seat.
Me, unlike you, have a pair to build for a project that has long been completed..... then again I've been known for being better aquainted with more bars than stools....LOL


Cheers,
Greg

[Joe Unni]

I like them a lot!

Nice work.

-joe

[Bruce Page]

I can't find Kermit anywhere.
I like them!

[Roy Wall]

Love the contoured walnut seats and the wedged joinery look......Great work!

[Kyle Stiefel]

How hard was that Ash to turn? I've only had one shot at that stuff and I ended up cursing it forever.

Aaron,

The ash wasn't bad to turn, granted I was just spinning down tapers and not trying to do anything fancy.


To all,

Thanks for all the comments.

[glenn bradley]

Those are really excellent.

[Rich Torino]

I really like the way the stools came out. How did you machine the contour in the seats???

[Kyle Stiefel]

I really like the way the stools came out. How did you machine the contour in the seats???

Rich I start by making depth holes to the approx. countour so I have a guide for the rough shaping. Following that I use my RAG. I have been using 2 different wheels which are both carried at Woodcraft.

1) I use the Lancelot wood carving disk for rough shaping.

2) I use their tungsten carbide grinding wheel in the medium grit.

3) Then an air powered 2" ROS.

4) Festool Rotex

5) Then a whole lot of hand sanding.

But now I can sneak a gloat in as yesterday in the mail I finally recieved my Kaindl woodcarver gold disk. When I carved out those last 2 seats my left hand was partially numb for many hours so I searched and there are a number of people who recommend this blade for numerous reasons. I picked up mine from www.djmarks.com (http://www.djmarks.com). I will get to use on the next seat which will be a office chair I should be starting on in a couple of weeks.

Hope that helps.

[Charles Jackson III]

Very nice stools.

[Mark Singer]

Excellent Work and nice design!

[Nate Rogers]

Kyle,
Very well done..

[Bill Fleming]

Kyle

Very nice job. I too am in the middle of building several stools and in addition to a "proto type" here are my lessions:

1) I disagree that the legs need to be connected closer to the edge or corner of seat - rather I think you need to set the legs at a greater angle so that they slope out more from seat .... but not too far .... my first proto type had way too much leg splay.

2) There are many good books on chair making - I have found those by Moser, Dunbar and Langsner to be best and each provides valuable info.

3) Moser has some great designs for stools

4) Langsner explains the whole "angle thing" and provides insight to the term and application of "sight line" - with this concept what I have done is build a jig that acts as a drill guide to drill an angled hole thru a block that is mounted to a flat board that has markings to align with the "sight lines". What I do is make a seat template out of 1/4" MDF and lay out the various "sight lines", locations for legs, seat depth holes, etc. - all on this template.

5) Take the template and use it to transfer this info. to an MDF seat blank made out of say 3 layers of 3/4" MDF. With the info. on the MDF blank then use the drill guide to drill the leg holes in this MDF blank. With this done use the MDF blank and clamp it to the real seat blank and drill leg holes and various depth holes. Then carve the seat (Arbortech, scorp, Rotex, sanding).

The nice thing about this approach (learned the hard way) - is that you can actually mount your legs to the MDF seat blank to confirm the angles and that you "love the look" before drilling the final seat blank.

Anyway - great job and really the best part is when all done.... sitting at the bar....

Cheers - Bill

[Don Bullock]

Kyle, Those are beautiful stools. The tops and wedged joinery is excellent. I've become a fan of using walnut with a contrasting wood. The ash was a perfect choice for the legs, both for the contrast and the strength. I like the design because it makes them look sturdy.

As you replied to Aaron, ash isn't difficult to turn. I turned legs and spindles for some Early American style furniture for our home many years ago (I'm finally starting on the replacement for the last of the end tables). Where Aaron may be having problems is that it tends to be a brittle wood. There can ba a lot of tear out that is diffucult to sand because ash is also very hard. Getting turned ash smooth requires good skill and careful selection of grain for the turning.