At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Overall
- 14 × 14 × 18 in high
- Legs, outside
- 12 × 12 in
- Stretcher tops
- 5 in (front and back) and 6-1/2 in (sides) above the floor
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hardwood, surfaced | About 3-1/4 board feet of finished parts | Straight-grained; buy extra |
| Wood glue | — | Frame joints only, never the seat |
| Screws for the buttons | 4 | Short enough not to come through the seat |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat | 1 | 1 × 14 × 14 in | Hardwood, glued up from boards |
| Leg | 4 | 1-1/2 × 1-1/2 × 17 in | Straight-grained hardwood |
| Apron | 4 | 3/4 × 2-1/2 × 10-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes two 3/4 in tenons |
| Stretcher | 4 | 3/4 × 1-1/4 × 10-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes two 3/4 in tenons |
| Button | 4 | 3/4 × 1-1/4 × 1-1/2 in | Hardwood offcuts |
Tools
- Saw for rips and crosscuts
- Mortising chisel or router
- Clamps
- Drill/driver
Why a stool, and why this one
Seating takes loads that tables do not: people sit down hard, shift their weight and rock. A chair with a back adds a lever — leaning back pushes on the back legs' joints — and a step stool is stood on. This plan keeps to a four-legged stool: the aprons brace the tops of the legs, the stretchers brace them low down, and all twelve joints are mortise and tenon. The seat height, 18 in, is a design choice.
Joinery
- Aprons. Each has a tenon 1/4 in thick, 1-3/4 in wide and 3/4 in long, with a 1/2 in shoulder at the top and 1/4 in at the bottom, in a 13/16 in deep mortise 1/4 in in from the leg's outside face. Aprons sit flush with the legs' outside faces.
- Stretchers. Each has a tenon 1/4 in thick, 3/4 in wide and 3/4 in long. The front and back stretchers' top edges are 5 in above the floor and the side stretchers' 6-1/2 in, so the two mortises in each leg are at different heights and do not meet inside it.
- Mitred tenon ends. The two apron tenons do meet inside each leg; mitre their ends at 45°. See mortise and tenon joints.
- Buttoned seat. A 1/4 × 3/8 in groove along each apron's inside, its top edge 5/8 in below the apron's top, takes one button per apron, so the 14 in seat can move across its grain. Estimate how far with the wood movement calculator.
Building it
Frame and seat
Choose and mill the stock
Use straight-grained hardwood with no knots or short grain in the legs, aprons or stretchers; see choosing lumber. Mill everything to final size.
Lay out the legs
Mark each leg's two inside faces and the mortise positions: apron mortises from 1/2 in to 2-1/4 in below the top, stretcher mortises 1/4 in in from the stretcher's top and bottom edges at its height.
Cut the joints
Cut the mortises, then the tenons to fit them snugly, and mitre the meeting apron tenon ends. Cut the button grooves before assembly.
Glue two sides
Glue the front pair of legs to their apron and stretcher, and the back pair likewise. Check each is flat and square. Glue times are the glue maker's; see how to use wood glue.
Join the sides
Glue the side aprons and stretchers between the two frames, check the diagonals, and leave it clamped.
Seat and finish
Glue up and flatten the seat, round its edges, sand and finish all over — how to sand wood, applying a wood finish — and attach it with four buttons.
Safety— For sitting, not standing
No load rating is claimed and the stool was not tested. It is for sitting; it is not a step stool or a ladder. Check the joints from time to time and stop using it if any loosen. Cutting small parts follows woodworking safety rules.
Before glue-up
- Straight grain in every leg, apron and stretcher
- Stretcher mortises at two heights so none meet
- Apron tenon ends mitred
- Button grooves cut
- Dry fit square: diagonals equal
A longer seat is in the bench plan; the same leg-and-apron joinery at table scale is in the coffee table plan.
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Sources
A BenchRoot design; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut list as final sizes. Seat height is a design choice, not an ergonomic standard. The design was not built or tested for this page and no load rating is claimed. Chairs with backs, rocking chairs and step stools put different loads on their joints and are not given here.
- 1.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Wood moving across the grain and very little along it, so a solid seat is held with buttons that let it move rather than glued to the frame.
About this project
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