Noah B Woodworks

Last weekend I was able to finish a protype of a step stool using scrap wood and some cherry. This was quite a challenging little project, because the mechanism for which the steps extend was more complicated than what I normally build. The stool itself is a regular bar stool, with two little steps that fold out beneath the tall seat. The steps are supported by the framing of the stool, and the swing arm is bolted to the stool frame and the sides of the steps.

The action of the swinging leaves a little to be desired, and is the primary topic of my focus moving forward. If I can sure up the action, so it isn’t sticky or cumbersome to use, I’ll have a winning design. I got pretty lucky this weekend that everything lined up in such a nice way. Moving forward, it would be good to make some of the parts on the CNC.

I might have unlocked the potential of my table saw too. When I first received my table saw, the motor vibrated a lot, and it sketched me out, so I stabilized it. However, this drastically reduced the functionality of the table saw, making it difficult to do angled cuts. I removed the stabilizing clamps and the saw seemed to work just fine, so they’ll stay off. Angled cuts on the table saw are honestly so crucial if you’re looking to make anything that is more complicated, so I’m feeling good about the status of that tool.

I’m looking forward to making more of these stools. It would be good to shrink it down a little, the size was just a little too big for my taste. Overall, I’m happy that I was able to build such an ambitious project in such a short amount of time. I used my tools efficiently and accurately despite being tired, which is usually where everything goes wrong and these projects turn into 2 or 3 week long endeavors.