Three-leg bar stool

[Pat Barry]

Four legs?

[Jeff Ranck]

Prototypes for the stools


What do you think she preferred?


Regards from Perth


Derek

I'll play. I think she preferred the 3 legged version - or maybe I'm just reading in my preference for the way the 3 legged version looks. There's a cleanliness to the design to my eye over the 4 legged version. The 4 legged version looks too heavy to my eye.

[Patrick Walsh]

Four legged....

[Christopher Charles]

Tis' folly to play such games...

Nonetheless....3

[Peter Christensen]

50/50 chance of getting it right. Both look good but the three legged one looks lighter and better to me. Me thinks the lady went for the three legged stool.

[Bill McDermott]

+1 for the proverbial three-legged stool.
I like the spilled soup drain holes.

[Hrant Manoukian]

Neither! She said she preferred the two-legged one while she was staring at you

[Chet R Parks]

Now that I think about it Derek in most of the pictures of your home and the furniture you make/design for it are light (in weight) looking and contemporary so why should this be any different. So I think your wife said, the three legs.

[Todd Zucker]

I'm gonna guess the one with four legs and three holes in the seat.

[Malcolm McLeod]

As I recall Roy demonstrates a method to tell you where the center of gravity is if the chair / stool / table is tipped. The centerline of any two legs of your three legged stool is the fulcrum point. When the center of gravity goes past the fulcrum point then the stool will tip. The thing to keep in mind (obviously) is that having more splay in the legs improves the stability of the stool. Adding more splay serves to increase the distance from the fulcrum point to the center of gravity. The problem is that if the legs splay outward from the seat too much then they become a trip hazard or a nuisance. Making a bigger seat allows you to have more separation of the legs at the floor thereby allowing for less splay angle in the legs. Making a full size model and experimenting with it is the best solution. Therein is the problem for most hobbyists (non chair professionals). You don't have personal history of all these dimensions therefore, don't deviate too far from proven models.

I'll stay out of the design review (!4!), but stick with Pat here. It's simple dyna-statical-cypher-empiri-neering.

I built a 3-leg baptismal font, around a large glass bowl. I was very concerned about how tippy it is. As Mr. Roy's video points out, if the stool tips past the 'plumb line', it goes over (all due respect, it is a rather pointless demo - who sits in a stool at that angle? They will have hit the 'eject' button long before.) But more importantly, as Pat points out, if the user's center of gravity shifts outside the fulcrum, they are going over too. Even if the stool was flat on the floor.

I'd want to prototype this, but it seems intuitive to me that the safest setup is the 'single' leg to the front-center, with paired-legs to the rear. Rationale being, that if legs are reversed (paired to front, single in back), and if the passenger is sitting upright or leaning into the backrest, then ~80-90% of their weight is directly on the single leg. Any weight shift to left or right, necessarily moves their CG past Pat's fulcrum and they go glass-over-tea-kettle. Personal injury lawyers, please have a seat ...right here.

At least with the single leg forward, they can catch themselves. I'm betting Nakashima found this acceptable in his designs above...?

[brian noel]

I have a few shop stools that my son has made me and one has the scooped seat, the other a more bike seat approach. I like and use them both and as far as comfort it is really hard to draw a conclusion of what is more comfortable. Funny enough one has the T stretchers and the other the three spindle approach. Stools just don't "hold" the body like a chair, so they don't follow the same comfort criteria and a seat that somewhat fits the buns works good. So a lot said, but no conclusion. I prefer a blend of windsor/shaped seat and Bern has something going with his stretcher layout.

[lowell holmes]

I think Derek needs to post a picture of his tool box.

[Jeff Ranck]

OK Derek, fess up. Which did she prefer?

[lowell holmes]

Derek,
Can I copy your design? It would be a fun project.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Lowell

You are more than welcome to copy it all ... it is not original. As much as I like to have my stamp on what I make, I am a beginner with Windsor designs and styles, and am stepping in the footprints of others. I post my stuff because I believe that there are others - like yourself - also feeling their way here. We all need as much guidance as possible.

Regards from Perth

Derek