How to make Wooden Stools

The stool will have four parts: the seat plank, four legs, two front stretchers and two back stretchers. Decide how the seat should be. Round or rectangular, made of one piece or quarter-sawn wood pieces. If it is round it usually is 1" thick x 13" round. Use mortise and tenon joinery to make it sturdy. You can use glue, pin it, or wedge it to lock it in place.

Legs are thicker at the bottom and thinner on top. Legs are angled, attached with through-tenons cut flush with the seats surface. Taper the four legs with the tapering jig on the table saw. If you used quarter-sawn planks for the seat, cut them to size. Cut a strip off each side at a 6 degree angle where the legs will fit and cant at an angle in the direction of the corners. Ensure fit. Draw a center line across so everything lines up. Make sure the legs are equally spaced apart.

U-shape two legs and the center part of a quarter-sawn wood strip that is part of the seat. Then glue, clamp, and let them dry. Then Scrape the excess glue. Sand the legs flush to the seat. Repeat for the other 2 legs. Then glue together the other two pieces of the seat with the polyurethane glue. Clamp together until dry.

Now comes the stretchers. Use a template to ensure uniform height. Hold it in place and mark with pencil where you want the stretcher to go. Then cut the stretcher to the exact length. Grind the ends with the disc sander and check the fit. Then use epoxy glue to quick-set the stretcher between the legs and clamp it. Repeat for the next two stretchers.

Finally, after it dries, try it. Paint it or finish it with mineral oil and a top coat of beeswax mixed with turpentine.