How to make a stool out of wood. Stools made of wood with their own hands. Connecting legs with tsargs and prolegs

The world of stools is vast and varied; photo in fig. give only a general idea of ​​its range. It is from a stool that many amateur carpenters begin their creative journey: you can make the simplest, but practical and pleasant-looking stool with your own hands in half an evening, and in the future, stools of other types will allow you to master the essential subtleties of furniture craftsmanship, and not one of the products will be superfluous in the house.

Other pieces of furniture do not possess such amazing properties; This is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that the stool is essentially extremely simple, purely practical and comes from the deepest antiquity: wooden decks on which cavemen sat around the fire, these are already stools. For the same reason, a stool must endure everything, be strong, reliable, durable.

On the other hand, the simplicity of form and design allows the stool to fit into any interior and generally be at home in any environment. Over the centuries and millennia, this must certainly have been appreciated, and was evaluated as a suitable basis for embodying certain aesthetic concepts in the material. Such an exquisite piece of furniture as a banquette is also nothing more than a stool. Fanciful design and decor require the use of complex technological techniques, therefore, to make a luxurious stool, you will need a fair amount of skill and experience. It is much easier to buy both, working with the usual basis, and here the stool provides a complete range of products from completely primitive to technologically the thinnest.

Stools are made from a variety of materials, from rope to stone. A plastic stool has long been commonplace, and forged or welded metal is also not unique, but in this post we will figure out how to make a stool out of wood. The reason, in addition to the "primordiality" of the material, is that it a wooden stool can be extremely simple, durable, reliable, and at the same time have high aesthetic merits. How so? Well, let's go!

Tool

The manufacture of a stool begins with the preparation of a tool and a workplace. Do not worry, we will not immediately advise you to spend some decent salaries on a wood milling machine, a drilling machine, a planer-sawing machine and a lathe. Let's try to do without even a carpentry workbench. Maybe it will come to all this when there is a taste for work and income from it. In the meantime, we will limit ourselves to the minimum that will allow us to work from a table on the balcony or in the garage, laying a film on the floor so as not to spread sawdust. And this minimum of a tool should be useful on the farm in general, suddenly (everyone has his own inclinations) the first stool will turn out to be the last.

So, for starters, in addition to an electric drill, you will need a pair of C-shaped carpentry clamps for 180-220 mm (top left in the figure), one (preferably 2) F-shaped for 400-500 mm, at the top center, and, preferably, clip-on clamp, top right. They will cost inexpensively, and the range of their application, in addition to carpentry, is very wide.

Buying a jigsaw, of course, would be nice; it is not so expensive and suitable for a wide variety of jobs. But at first, instead of it, you can use ... a frame hacksaw for metal; they go on sale as mini hacksaws. Just do not take entirely plastic ones (lower left in the figure, pos. a). This is a tool for rare occasional use. Such a miracle on the Internet can be found for as much as 18 rubles, but plastic sponges are quickly eaten up by the steel of the canvas, and a “super-cheap” hacksaw is not enough for a good stool. You need to take a mini-hacksaw with a steel frame, pos. b. It will cost about 50 rubles, but you can work with it for a long time and regularly.

For woodworking, the canvas is tucked into the frame hacksaw “incorrectly”, with the cutting edges of the teeth facing you (upper inset in pos. b). Then a section of the canvas in the frame can be sawn across the fibers, along and obliquely. In any case, the cut comes out even and smooth, literally mirror-like; when sawing in a layer, only under-dried or newly damp coniferous wood is slightly shaggy. Thus, for example, spikes are sawn under the groove, see below. Again, it is “wrong” to cut wood with a frame hacksaw, you can start from the corner, because. wood is softer than any structural metal.

The protruding section (console) of the canvas to conduct a curved cut is slower than a jigsaw, but, with some attention and accuracy, just as accurately. When working at home, it is advisable to fill the blade, as it should be in a locksmith's way, with the ridges of the teeth away from you so that the sawdust falls down, clogging the markings. In this case, you also need to cut in a locksmith's way: keep the tool even, without tilting along the cut, do not lean too much and give a swing (working stroke) no more than 1.5-2 widths of the blade. Also, the protruding ends of the dowels and through spikes are sawn off with a “wing” of the canvas no worse than with a special flexible saw, which is several times more expensive.

Next, wood files - rasps. You will need 2 of them: straight semicircular 200x20 mm, pos. c, etc. cabinet, also semicircular (250-300) x30 mm, pos. d. A cabinet rasp differs from a straight rasp not only in its narrowed end, but also in the way it is cut. Both of them, of course, have a notch that is not at all the same as that of metal files; those on the tree are instantly clogged with sawdust. Depending on the properties of the tree and the area to be treated (end, edge, face), it is more convenient to work with one or another rasp.

Then, chisels. We will need simple straight chisels to a tree with a width of 6-8 and 20 mm. It would also be nice to purchase a set of 6-40 mm chisels, from 3-5 samples. Often, a wooden hammer is attached to a set of chisels - a mallet, which otherwise needs to be bought separately. However, a mallet, like a clamp-clothes peg, can be made with your own hands from hard, small-layer wood.

About stool sizes

The dimensions of the stool seat, as a rule, are taken in the range from 300x300 to 450x450 mm or, if the stool is round, of the same diameter. Minimum - 250x250 mm; sitting on a plank of 200 mm is already uncomfortable, after 5-15 minutes the edges of even a soft, but too narrow seat also crash into an extensive elastic “fifth point”.

The total height of the stool is taken, according to height, in the range of 420-480 mm. The height of a children's or household stool can be reduced to 260-280 mm; in this case, the seat is also made approximately 260x260 mm or 270-280 mm in diameter.

Note: when designing a stool on your own, it should be remembered that the contour of its supporting surface must be at least 280x280 mm or a diameter of 320 mm for a stool of normal height and at least 250x250 mm or a diameter of 290 mm for a stool of reduced height, otherwise both will turn out to be unstable. For decorative and folding stools, these values ​​can be reduced by 1.25 times.

Of three parts

Yes, a good stool, incl. decorative in the living room, can be assembled from just 3 parts. Drawings of a product of this kind (pedestal stools) are given on the left in fig. The 4-piece option is unsightly, but very durable, therefore it is more suitable as a working stool: you can attach a removable vise to it, drill, saw, chop, etc. In this case, it is better to take the overall dimensions of the 4-piece stool as minimal as possible, see above.

The sample on the left in Fig. - one of the very few types of stools that can be made entirely from chipboard with a thickness of 20 mm or more; the width of the connecting grooves in the details corresponds to the thickness of the material. The base is assembled on glue (carpentry, nitro-glue for wood, PVA or polymer for tiles like bustilat). Seat fasteners - wood screws or confirmatory screws (60-90) x6 mm. Screw connections also with gluing.

The fact is that chipboard really “does not like” loads on the layer and fastening to the end. In this design, the loads concentrated at the attachment points spread well and, with proper assembly, delamination of the material is unlikely. But on the heels of the legs, it is still highly desirable to stick overlays made of solid dense wood (oak, beech, hornbeam) with a thickness of 10 mm or more. Rubber - no need, it will stain and spoil the floor.

3 to 5

The variant of the supporting structure of the stool, shown on the right in the figure, allows, on the one hand, to get rid of the rather laborious and responsible cutting of long even grooves, which is especially important when working with a hand saw. On the other hand, it allows you to get legs of a rather bizarre shape without a significant increase in material waste, because. blanks are marked with minimal technological gaps on a board 200-250 mm wide.

The “highlight” here is that 2 of the 3 parts of the previous design (namely, the legs) “halve” along. The base is assembled in a cross (diagram at the top right) similarly to the previous one. option, i.e. with gluing of all joints:

• Drill holes for self-tapping screws; holes for fastener heads can be omitted.
• Dry assembly is carried out and, if necessary, fitting of parts.
• 3-4 drops of glue are introduced into the holes for fasteners and smeared inside with a thin splinter.
• Apply adhesive to mating surfaces.
• Withstand details until the glue sticks on visible surfaces.
• Quickly and tightly collect the entire assembly on the hardware.

Also pay attention to the side surface, marked with the letter A. Before installing the seat, you can put on a round shell rolled from thin fiberboard on it. They put the shell on glue and small hardware (self-tapping screws, nails). After assembling and finishing the entire product, the shell can be decorated, incl. very spectacular stucco molding from polymer clay and get a truly luxurious stool.

4 details

Box-shaped stools-benches made of 4 boards (seat, 2 sidewalls-legs and a vertical longitudinal insert-support beam, on the left in the figure) are widely known and described many times. However, such a stool is simple and cheap only in appearance: for proper strength and reliability, its parts must be cut out of a block of durable wood or chipboard with a thickness of 40 mm and a width of 250 mm. Both materials are not cheap, their trimmings suitable for a stool most often do not go to waste and it is not easy to find them for sale or in your own pantry.

Meanwhile, an economic-working stool-bench can be made literally from improvised materials, scraps of timber from 30x30 and plywood from 2.5 mm as follows, on the right in the figure:

1. Segments of the beam are rallied into shields (leg blanks) end-to-end on glue, as described below;
2. One side of each shield is glued under pressure (compression with clamps) with plywood;
3. Angular grooves are cut out in the blanks of the legs for the same beam and holes are selected with a chisel for the screed from it;
4. Paste over with plywood the front sides of the legs in the same way as according to clause 2;
5. Assemble the supporting box of the stool on glue and self-tapping screws;
6. They fix the seat, which in this case can be made of plywood from 6 mm or boards from 12 mm. You can simply put the seat on the glue, all operational loads and so the box takes over.

simple kitchen

A simple full-size household stool can also be made from scraps of timber, plywood or chipboard, see fig. It is more suitable for seasonal dachas. When used in the kitchen of a residential building, the design turns out to be rather weak, there this stool lasts for 3-5 years. The second option for using the same design is a smaller children's stool, see above; the dimensions of the parts are then proportionally reduced, except for the width of the connecting grooves.

footing

The footstool, on 2 pairs of X-shaped legs, is also quite popular due to its low material consumption and good decorative qualities. However, in reality, it turns out to be not so simple.

Take a look at the sub-assembly marked in red in the fragment at the top left of fig. To perform a strong and reliable tie-in of 3 bars in 2 mutually perpendicular planes is not an easy task for an experienced carpenter; putting a dowel there will be unreliable, and the self-tapping screw in this case is outright hack: the double crosshair is heavily loaded and the steel hardware will go to tear the tree.

These problems can be circumvented by combining the beam and box-shaped power schemes of the supporting structure. We will leave the openwork of the beam frame in the most noticeable place - below - and we will achieve overall strength with an “oak” box-shaped top. Technically, this is obtained by reducing the angle between the legs to 60 degrees. Then, in order to maintain the total height of the stool and the width of the contour of the supporting surface within acceptable limits, the crosshairs of the legs are shifted upwards. The V-shape of the now asymmetrical X is tall and wide enough that a sturdy box can be made of 20mm or thicker pine board, chipboard, or plywood, see left in fig.

Note: the missing overall dimensions can be taken from the figure, it is drawn to scale.

The longitudinal walls of the box need not be sloped; this is done to reduce the visibility of the box while maintaining its maximum volume. If the longitudinal walls of the box are straight, it can be made narrower, so long as the V-shaped part of the legs fits inside. It also does not hurt to deepen the box by sliding its bottom down, the whole stool will only be stronger. In this case, 1-2 attachment points are added on the Λ-shaped parts of the legs, similar to the V-shaped part, marked in green in fig. The box is assembled on dowels (see below) and glue or on steel corners applied from the inside. In this case, the box is first glued, and after 1/4-1/3 of the time of complete curing of the glue, it is finally fastened with steel.

The bottom of the box is sewn up with fiberboard; under the seat, a capacious drawer for useful trash is formed: the supporting structure gives the stool full strength and its seat can be removed or folded down. The last option is better, because the stool, rearranging, is taken by the seat. The folding seat is fastened with a piano loop or a pair of small card loops. Any suitable lock in the lowered state: a tight ball latch, a hook and a brace on the underside of the seat, up to a secret lock, if you so desire.

When making this stool, you will have to master at least one joinery and carpentry connection - a half-wood tie-in, this is how the parts of the legs are connected. To embed 2 pieces of wood into each other, using a milling cutter, as they would say in America, can, and the youngest daughter of President Obama (grandmother Jane Psaki is a lady, they say, sensible and skillful). With a simple hand tool, a half-tree tie-in is performed by making cuts according to the markup and choosing a surplus between them. Working “only with hands”, it is necessary to take a closer look at how the layers of wood go on both sides and put a chisel to knock out the excess, so that the chip does not go deep into the mass of material, see above in fig. The rest is obtained with the same chisel, acting like a chisel, without hitting with a mallet, and, if necessary, smoothing the bottom of the groove with a rasp. It is not necessary to smooth it clean with sandpaper, rough surfaces on the glue will hold on tighter.

Note: Please note that the details of the legs of the foot stool are a mirror image of each other both horizontally and vertically, at the bottom right in Fig. If you do not have experience in design work or a naturally developed (convex, as they say) spatial imagination, it will be useful to first model the legs to scale or life size, assembling them from 2 layers of cardboard.

More connections

So we have already stumbled upon a dowel connection, one of the most common in carpentry. In the future, we will need an equally common thorn-groove connection. How they are performed is shown in Fig. There is little left to add to it.

First, when choosing a surplus from the groove (pos. 1d), it is not necessary to bring it to full squareness. It is better to leave the edges (short sides) of the groove rounded, and round the edges of the tenon accordingly, so the whole connection will be stronger.

Secondly, the spike does not have to be done on a router at all, it will not take much longer to cut it out manually with the same frame hacksaw. First, at the level of the base of the spike, the workpiece is sawn across along the contour by 0.5-1 mm less than the required depth, stepping back from the marking to the end of the workpiece by 0.5-1 mm. It’s also a small sin to carry on washing down to the full depth, but then a small narrow groove will remain along the contour of the base of the spike. If you don’t finish it a little, then the base of the spike will be slightly broadened due to the elasticity of the tree, and the whole connection will again be stronger.

The spike is finally sawn from the end along the fibers, retreating 0.5-1 mm outward from the markup. Here, for the same reason, the gash is also not brought to the end by 1-1.5 mm, and the excess is simply broken off. If the wood is straight-grained coniferous, the excess at a certain moment will crunch itself and hang on the fibers or fall off. Bring the spike to size and round off its edges with a rasp.

Note: when developing wooden structures on your own, do not forget - all spikes should be directed only and only along the layer! The tenon thickness for ordinary commercial wood, unless otherwise indicated on the drawings, is taken by default at 1/3 of the thickness of the thinnest of the mating parts.

As for the dowels (round connecting bosses), it is better to buy ready-made wooden ones. The cost of finished dowels is cheap, they are already chamfered and corrugated, which makes the glued connection stronger. Plastic dowels do not dry out with wood and therefore the connection weakens over time.

The main rule when choosing dowels is that their wood should dry out a little slower than the structural one or at the same speed; this condition is almost always satisfied if the dowel wood is harder. Drying out of the dowel is difficult, because. its contact with air is limited. The part, drying out, will compress the dowel; her and dowel lignin are gradually "soldered" and the connection becomes stronger over time.

The diameter of the dowels is taken 2.5-3 times less than the thickness of the narrowest of the parts to be joined; its length is 1.75 times the thickness of the thinnest part. The last dowel (if it is not through) should enter 2/3-3/4 of its thickness, and its remainder should sit thicker in the part.

Note: holes for blind dowels in thin boards are selected so-called. Forstner drill, see below, leaving behind an almost flat bottom.

Also a useful stool

Well, how do you undertake to make a spike-groove with your hands? Then it's time to take on a simple folding wooden stool, see fig., for a summer residence, garden, picnic. 2-3 of these stools will not take up much space in the closet and fit in the trunk of a car. Material - board or plywood. It is highly desirable to impregnate all parts from the latter before assembling the product with a water-polymer emulsion, it will not only protect against moisture and rot, but also strengthen the structure.

How to make a capture

Taking a folding stool with a round seat just by the seat is not very convenient, so the grip for the hand on the sample above is not a whim. In a solid board, the grip is cut out as usual: holes are drilled along its edges with a pen or core drill (diameter - 24-36 mm; distance between centers 95-115 mm, looking at the hand), and the excess between them is cut out. In this case, it is also convenient to use a frame hacksaw.

Another thing is if the capture falls on the junction of the boards; most often this happens in classic kitchen stools, see below. At this point, the beak of the pen or the pioneer drill / guide pin of the crown, when working with a hand drill, will definitely go along the groove and the drill will lead to the right. A conductor made of thick plywood or trimming the board does not help, the thin sidewall of the feather or the teeth of the crown tear it, and cling to the steel conductor themselves.

It is for such cases, as well as for drilling holes with a flat bottom, that the Forstner drill is intended, see Fig., Its lateral surface is smooth. When making a manual grip in the stool seat, they first drill holes in the conductor according to the above dimensions; left over! Then the conductor is applied in place, securely fastened with a pair of C-shaped clamps, and the edge holes are drilled. The surpluses in the details are chosen as always, the gap between the boards is not an obstacle for this.

real kitchen

Now we have classic kitchen stools in line. In the process of use, they get more than others, therefore, their design is carried out according to all the rules of strength: a rigid beam frame, capable of enduring all operational loads alone, and a seat that must hold firmly in place, but in such a way that, if necessary, it can be easily repaired or replace. Therefore, the seat of the kitchen stool is made of shield boards from cohesive planks (see below) and is attached to the breadcrumbs or directly to the frame on the dowels.

The variant with breadcrumbs is shown in fig; pos. A - its general scheme and the names of its components. The advantage of this design is the low quality requirements for the seat shield. By installing a pair of crackers on each drawer (this will not reduce the overall strength of the product), you can make the seat generally from separate boards, and on the original 4 crackers - plywood or chipboard.

Pay attention to the drawers, these are not just boards, they are all the time in furniture, and not only in furniture. The drawer in general is a part that properly distributes the load in the assembly and is itself capable of carrying the load. Drawers can be found in the distillation cube, pipelines, etc., which have nothing to do with furniture.

Also pay attention to pos. E, it shows a way to check the evenness of pairs of legs with diagonals; it is basically the same as checking the squareness of the foundation. The evenness of the pairs during the assembly of the classic stool is checked three times, see fig. right: in pairs assembled individually (left pos. and red lines), between pairs (orange lines in the central pos.) and the overall squareness of the frame (brown lines in the center). The seat is installed only after a complete check of evenness; sawing the legs of a finished stool is utter unprofessionalism.

Below in fig. - drawings of a stool for the kitchen with a seat mounted on dowels. Such a design is less laborious and material-intensive, because there are no operations for the manufacture and installation of crackers, but the seat shield must be firmly cohesive, see below. If fittings are installed on the legs, they should not reach the floor by 20-40 mm so as not to scratch it.

Note: spike cuts at 45 degrees in both cases are made with the same frame hacksaw. A fixed miter box (device for sawing at an angle) at fixed angles of 90, 45 and 60 degrees costs no more than 50 rubles.

How to rally the boards into a shield

The boards, which will now be the plots of the set (package), are usually rallied into shields on glue using special clips - wym, at the top left in fig. In wimms, small additionally fixed shields, as for a stool seat, can be rallied just end-to-end. Large shields, say, for a tabletop or sidewall of a cabinet, are rallied (middle row from left to right) with a tongue, in a fold, on dowels, dowels (lamellas), and in other ways.

Clamps in piece handicraft work are sometimes replaced with various home-made devices on the same principle (compressing a set with pairs of wedges), at the top right, and now more and more often with large F-shaped clamps. In this case, a rather laborious preparation of plots for rallying according to methods a, c, or d is necessary. it is impossible to achieve an absolutely accurate pairing of wooden parts under load due to the low local strength of the wood.

However, there is a way to rally the shield on the seat of the stool end-to-end completely smooth and without complicated fixtures, this is the so-called. twisted wyma with cheek pads; its diagram is shown below in Fig. Step-by-step rallying of the shield in a twisted clamp is carried out as follows:

1. The lower (according to the scheme) plywood cheek is placed on the table;
2. The table with a cheek is covered with plastic wrap;
3. Glue is applied to the edges of the plots and kept until tack-free or according to the instructions of the glue;
4. The plots are laid on the lower cheek over the film and, if possible, tightly squeezed by hand;
5. Wrap the set with foil;
6. Impose the upper cheek;
7. The whole package is carefully, without lifting or turning over, shifted to the edge of the table so that some part of the set hangs over the floor;
8. They start winding with a cord, applying turns as tightly as possible, but not quite too tight;
9. When the package is wrapped about 1/3 or more, it can be removed from the table and winded on weight;
10. The ends of the cord are tied;
11. Wedges are inserted under the winding, tapping with a mallet. 4 wedges are needed, they are injected evenly from 4 sides (2 from above and 2 from below), tapping alternately;
12. When the wedges stretch all the turns of the winding tightly evenly, the package is left until the glue dries completely;
13. After the glue dries, the winding, cheeks and film are removed, the set is cut to size.

The cross section of the wedges need not be rectangular; it is possible to use obliquely cut round sticks; there is only one condition - the wedges are needed smooth. It is desirable to use a slippery propylene cord, packing twine is suitable. The thickness of the wedges is determined based on experience. If there is none, then the package is first assembled dry, without glue, and the thickness of the wedges is selected so that they completely fit under the winding, tightly pulling its turns.

How about softer? DIY stool covers

Long sit on the hard, of course, unpleasant. A comfortable stool on the frame of a classic kitchen can be made with a wicker seat, without fooling around with breadcrumbs, dowels and a shield, see fig. The seat material is colored polypropylene twine and a smooth linen cord.

It is highly desirable to have decorative stools in the living room with beautiful soft ones, and it will not hurt to give a kitchen stool a gloss. But there is not and cannot be a stool on which no one would ever set foot. Or, at least, did not feel an acute desire to do this for quite objective reasons caused by the circumstances. Hence the conclusion: a stool needs a soft, elegant pad on the seat - a seat - which, if necessary, could be removed without fiddling for a long time, and just as quickly placed back.

The first thing that comes to mind in this case is a decorative pillow, see for example. video below. But the pillow can be accidentally dumped on the floor, and she herself will slowly slide there. Another option is a soft case. A cover for a chair or armchair is a rather complicated garment, but with a stool the situation is simpler.

Video: decorative pillow on a stool / chair

Covers for stools are made mainly of the following types, see fig. Pos. 1 - cape with ties. Sewing this one is the easiest, but the ties stick out in plain sight, and there is a lot of fuss with them, especially if the stool is for children and the kid has something to think with knots.

The next option is a cape with an elastic band. She can look great, pos. 2, and you can remove it by simply pulling it off. The structure of the cape on the stool is generally the same as the permanent upholstery: foam rubber, padding polyester and upholstery fabric from the bottom up, but there are a couple of tricks.

Firstly, it is better to take foam rubber from PVC, yellowish soft, pos. 3. It is not suitable for permanent furniture upholstery, because relatively short lived. But in the case of a stool, its other feature comes to the fore: it adheres well to wood, incl. lacquered, so that the cape will not slip to the side and under the angry rider.

Secondly, it is better to cut the cover for a square stool diagonally, i.e. The warp and weft of the fabric should go from corner to corner. In this case, cutting as such is not needed: the cut is thrown onto the seat (the folds are beautiful and smoothly fitting corners), where they mark where to cut, cut and sew.

Note: a cover for a round stool must already be cut; an example of its manufacture - see the video below:

Video: do-it-yourself simple cover for a round stool

An option that is also quite soft, original, beautiful and tenacious to wood is a rug for a stool using the patchwork technique, i.e. patchwork, pos. 4; see e.g. plot:

Video: seat mat on a stool using the patchwork technique

Finally, a knitted cape, pos. 5. This option is labor intensive and almost exclusively decorative. It allows you to achieve a magnificent visual effect, but, alas, a knitted cape will retain its appearance for a long time only on a stool that is not being sat on.

In conclusion: immediately aerobatics

Very elegant stools with divergent legs. It is generally accepted that they are not amateur products. The reason is drilling holes at exactly the right angle; see for an example in fig. drawings of details of a stool on turned legs. Here, firstly, you can not do without a drilling machine. A relatively inexpensive table-top frame for a drill does not help out: the shaft holder in it is too short, which is why, in combination with a plastic case, the drill leads by half a degree, or even more. Such an error is enough for the stool to come out crooked and wobbly.

Secondly, fitting the details of a stool of this design during the assembly process is excluded, everything must be done immediately exactly in size from solid high-quality wood. See the steel plate at the bottom right in the pic? This is a gauge for checking the diameter of the spikes. In this case, they, regardless of the design and overall design, are required to be round, i.e. You also need a wood lathe.

Now let's go back to the 3 to 5 stool. Let's reduce the size r to 100 mm, this is acceptable. Is it possible now to make this stool with divergent legs? Quite. Of course, they will not be chiseled and not quite round, but the grace and lightness of the stool will be preserved. This is what the aesthetic potential of a stool means in practice.

As you know, the kitchen is the "heart" of the house, its soul. And a place that gathers all the inhabitants in a friendly company. That is why it is so important to equip the dining area with special comfort. And help with this can be comfortable stools placed around the table.

Despite the fact that a stool is taken for granted, any housewife will say that good furniture gives the kitchen a special cosiness, warmth and good mood for the inhabitants of the house. Therefore, the choice of chairs and stools should be approached very responsibly, taking into account the general style of the kitchen interior, color tones, and even furniture for the kitchen corner.

Modern technologies can significantly reduce the negative impact of using items made from such “fashionable” polymer materials (they look lighter, look more fun, and are cheaper at cost), but no one has canceled the good old wood, and comparing other materials with it unthinkable. And all because wooden furniture is environmentally friendly building material.

Another advantage of wooden furniture is that it is high quality and long service life. And no matter what the manufacturers of fashionable "ecoplast" say, that it is "no worse", the tree will always be in price (of course, if these are not sheets of chipboard or MDF, but natural wood with antiseptic impregnations).

The third quality impact resistance, resistance to mechanical damage(scratches, small bumps, chips). Of course, this does not mean that solid wood furniture, for example, can be hit with a hammer and nothing will happen to it. But the probability of noticeable deformations on the surface is quite small when compared with the same plastic furniture.

Carved wooden stools (photo)

Purchased wooden stools

pros

• The product is completely ready for use. This means that if you do not want to bother with making your own seats, wasting materials and your precious time, then you can buy wooden stools for the kitchen at any furniture store. And there are often held various promotions, sales, discounts, etc.
• You can also get acquainted with the assortment through the catalogs of online stores - today it is very convenient, because it will immediately orient you both financially and in terms of delivery, moreover, almost all issues can be resolved literally without leaving home. Yes, and order furniture in the same way, online, by filling out the required order form.
• Still, as an option, you can purchase a ready-made classic stool of the simplest design and decorate it with the general interior of the kitchen.

Minuses

• Sometimes the goods posted on the site do not correspond to those brought by the delivery service. There may be discrepancies in color shades, sizes and even material (for example, instead of aspen they bring pine, instead of oak - birch, etc.). In this case, the delivery, as a rule, is paid and the costs for it are not reimbursed by the manufacturer in case of refusal to purchase. Therefore, it is advisable to check the product yourself.
• As for sales, everything is not so smooth here either - often such promotions refer to furniture that has already gone out of fashion, or is a stale product. Although stools as a piece of furniture are always relevant, but their design can also change and even go out of fashion. But a discount on a product most often happens when the product comes with any defects. Therefore, before purchasing a “discounted product”, you should think about whether you need a defective seat in the kitchen?

Creative wooden stools for the kitchen (photo)

• stool sizes- it is advisable to select seats with such dimensions that will fit all the stools under the table. The most ideal size is 300-400 mm wide, 290-350 mm deep (quadrangular seats), from 300 mm in diameter for round seats. Height can vary from 400 to 500 mm.
• table shape- this must be taken into account without fail. Agree, a rectangular table is unlikely to look against the background of round stools.
• seat type- soft or hard. Here the options for the "model" can be very different - whoever likes what. Someone picks up a hard seat, changes the soft bedding every month and enjoys regularly updating the interior with minimal financial costs. And someone wants constant comfort - so the choice is in favor of seats with soft upholstery.
• upholstery type- as a rule, washable upholstery is selected (leatherette, eco-leather, fabric upholstery with soft washable pile).

If you want to buy stools with a depth of 350 mm or more, then you will have to stop only at “soft” options, and all because such models do not cause discomfort when sitting at the table (this is especially true for rectangular stools) and do not “crash” into the skin.

Prices for wooden stools start from 450 rubles / piece - such a fluctuation in prices depends on the type of wood, design, upholstery, manufacturer, type of construction and even decor.

DIY wooden stools

pros

Own is always best, because it is produced “for itself”. The advantage of do-it-yourself wooden stools is obvious: you get a product of the “right” size, with a convenient and practical design and the simplest design. In addition, less money is spent (well, except for the material for manufacturing), there is the possibility of decorating and a wide scope for creativity.

It is equally possible to paint the seat, and paint it in a solid color according to your own taste. And most importantly - such seats will always fit any kitchen interior, as they will be made "exclusively". Yes, and you can choose the upholstery yourself, soft or simple, to match the curtains and the general kitchen set.

The price of handmade wooden stools, as a rule, turns out to be significantly lower than the market price.

Classic solid wood stool

Minuses

The disadvantage of the production of wooden stools is the significant time costs for their manufacture. This statement is more suitable for those who have practically no free time. And also for those who are not used to handling a hammer and nails. However, today in the construction departments you can find anything - and lumber, and carpentry tools, and means for finishing / decorating finished stools. And following the instructions for making "seats" on your own, you can quickly learn how to make wooden stools for the kitchen.

Drawings of stools

How to make a stool out of wood? Since the manufacture of a classic stool is independently reduced to several stages, we will consider each of them in general terms (on illustrative examples of drawings of wooden stools).

Scheme 1. On straight legs

Material: bars 60x60x400 mm in size - for legs (4 pcs), bars with spikes (sides) 25x60x260 mm in size (4 pcs), seat - plywood sheet 300x300x10 mm in size (1 pc). For soft upholstery, you will need a piece of foam rubber the same size as the seat, fabric for finishing.

Tools: pencil with ruler, jigsaw, wood saw, glue, construction stapler.

Drawers are made as follows: distances of 30 mm are measured from both ends - for spikes, then the ends are sawn so that the height of one spike is 50 mm. Drawers are ready (these are the so-called connecting stiffeners for a stool).

In the bars-legs, grooves should be cut for installing the tsargs with spikes in them (the grooves are first marked with a pencil), then the tsargs with legs are fastened. The length of one groove should be 50 mm, depth - up to 30 mm, width - 10-13 mm. The distance from the edge of the groove to the edge of the leg is 20 mm from above, from the sides - 10 mm.

After preparing all the parts, their assembly begins. Before planting the drawers in the grooves, it is necessary to coat both the spikes and the grooves with PVA glue - for better bonding, and then tightly connect. For greater strength, you can fix the parts with screws. In this sequence, all the legs of the stool are interconnected.

The frame is ready, now it remains to put the seat on top and secure it. A sheet of plywood is planted on self-tapping screws.

This is followed by finishing - you can simply cover it with a special varnish on wood in several layers, or you can paint it with water-based acrylic paint. If you want to upholster the seat with fabric or leatherette, then before fixing the plywood sheet is first upholstered, the upholstery material is fastened with a stapler or glue, and then planted on the frame.

This is the simplest scheme for self-made stools from wooden blocks and plywood.

Scheme 2. On bending legs

The principle of the design is the same, with a difference in the shape of the legs. Naturally, such legs are not bent, but cut out of bars with an electric jigsaw. You can shape the legs of the stool if you use a stencil made of thick cardboard.

Wooden stools with figured legs in the interior (photo)

Scheme 3. From thick sheets of plywood

This stool is notable for being fully prefabricated. First, templates are made on a sheet of thick cardboard (you can take whatman paper in A1 format), with exact dimensions on a 1: 1 scale. Then the templates are cut out with scissors, superimposed on plywood (the thickness of plywood is taken according to the principle “the thicker, the more reliable”, but one should not forget about the complexity of processing sheets!), Circled in pencil.

After transferring the markings from plywood sheets, the parts of the prefabricated structure are cut out, which are then assembled like a children's designer. Everything is pretty easy!

At the end of the assembly, file the ends of the legs and sand the seat again.

Decorating stools for the kitchen

Are the stools ready but no finishing touches? Here you can recoup plenty, giving scope to your imagination! You can paint the seats with legs in bright colorful colors (we use only water-based acrylic paints), or you can varnish them - such stools will look no worse than the “painted ones”. You can sew the original to match the overall style of the room.

You can develop your imagination even more and apply stencil drawings (such are sold in hardware stores, in furniture decoration departments). And you can paste over the stools with cloth or wallpaper - if you have "unused extra material" left. The main thing here is fantasy, inspiration and the presence of taste, so that the result pleases the owners, and such decor is in harmony with the overall interior of your kitchen!

Master class decorating a wooden stool from Ikea (video):

If you decide to master the process of making home furniture, you should start with the simplest designs. First, try to make a stool with your own hands. You can quite cope with this task, even if you do not have special skills in working with wood.

Drafting

Seats: its side can be equal to 350-430 mm;

The main details of the stool

Tsarg - bars under the seat, creating a solid foundation; it is to them that the legs are attached;

Legs (supports) 45-50 cm high and 35-50 mm in cross section;

Prolegs, which serve to give the structure additional stability; it is better to place them not exactly in the center of the legs, but a little closer to the bottom;

Crackers: corners made of wood or metal, mounted in the corners under the seat (we will talk about them below).

A simple do-it-yourself stool

Advice! A household stool can be made small - up to 260-280 mm high with a seat size of 260x260 mm.

Required tools and materials

Ready-made bars or a dry board 200 mm wide (it will be more convenient to work with this size, it can easily be sawn lengthwise into several bars of 50 mm each);

Roulette;

Square;

A hacksaw with fine teeth or an electric saw for sawing wood;

Rasp;

Chisel;

Drill or screwdriver: they not only fasten parts, but also drill holes; you can replace it with a set of screwdrivers;

self-tapping screws;

Sandpaper.

It is great if there is a milling cutter available, with which you can quickly prepare the grooves and process the edges. Experienced craftsmen also use grinders - with circles of different grain sizes. However, you can also use the usual old-fashioned way - choose grooves and make spikes only with a chisel, jigsaw and rasp, and then sand the tree with sandpaper.

Grooving

Sawing and processing parts

2. To obtain a stable structure, cut the bars strictly at 90°.

3. When calculating the dimensions of the drawstrings and prolegs, do not forget that the length of the spikes must be added to their length (see the figure below).

Marking the prolegs

4. Our design should not have chips and scuffs, otherwise it will be easy to catch a burr during use. Therefore, after cutting the parts carefully we process with sandpaper No. 40-60, wound for convenience on a bar, edges and cuts of blanks. It is also necessary to clean out pronounced irregularities.

5. With sandpaper with a finer abrasive No. 80-120, and then No. 160-320, we again go through the entire plane of each part twice.

How to choose a groove and make spikes?

2. The simplest option - rectangular spikes. Their width should be 1/3 of the thickness of the part, and the length should be about 80% of its thickness. That is, if the thickness of our proleg is 20 mm, then we must make spike 16 mm long and 7 mm wide(multiply 20 by 1/3 and get 6.67 mm, round the figure to 7).

Rectangular spike for connecting prolegs

3. So, we mark the location of the spikes on the sides and prolegs.

tongue-and-groove connection

4. Since the spike is much easier to fit than the groove, we start with making grooves.

5. It is more convenient to use a drill or a screwdriver to drill them. After making several holes (see photo), we select the excess wood between them very sharp chisel(A blunt instrument can only hurt you.)

6. To make the walls even, you can fix a small bar at the groove sampling line - in this case, you can easily select the groove at 90 °.

7. Of course, it is much easier to make spikes on a milling machine. But you can cut them out using the old-fashioned markup method using the usual jigsaw and rasp, and if the house has a jigsaw, then things will go even faster.

8. Check the connection. It should be tight enough, and the spike should fit tightly into the groove to the very end.

Stool assembly

We check the evenness of the parts in pairs

2. If there are no errors, we disassemble the structure and drip several grooves into the holes drops of glue, and then smear it with thin chips along the walls. After drying, you can additionally fix the connections with self-tapping screws.

3. To seat it didn’t warp quickly, it’s better to pick it up from several (5-7) boards up to 80 cm wide.

4. We glue the seat boards, smearing them with glue on the sides, and tighten them clamps(tools for tightening and tightly pressing parts to each other).

We tighten the glued seat with clamps

5. We are waiting for the glue to dry completely.

6. We apply glue again, but already on the back of the seat, apply the seat to our stool, align the structure and press it tightly. Remove excess glue immediately.

7. In principle, the seat can be screwed or fixed with wooden dowels (chops) 3 cm long.

8. To strengthen the back of the seat, we attach small corners to the legs and sides (they are called breadcrumbs) or use a furniture corner screed.

In the corners we fix the corners (crackers)

Furniture coupler for tsarg

You can also strengthen the structure with the help of ordinary bars attached to the inside of the stool in the tsarg area.

Plywood stool

There is no point in explaining the manufacturing process in detail - the figure below shows in detail the order of cutting and assembly. All blanks are cut with a hand saw or a jigsaw and carefully cleaned. The finished product can be varnished after assembly.

The simplest plywood stool

Plywood children's stool

Video: How to make a folding stool

A stool is a comfortable and compact piece of furniture familiar to everyone, which is most often used in the kitchen or in summer cottages. Chairs purchased in a store and made of wood composites do not always meet all the requirements of consumers in terms of aesthetics and practicality for such conditions, and at the same time they are quite expensive. That is why the question arises of how to make a stool with your own hands from wood so that it is reliable and lasts for many years.

Anyone who started making furniture with such a simple product as a stool, having stuffed his hand on it, may later want to make more complex and large-scale structures, for example, a table, a wardrobe or, which will save decent money for the family budget.

Popular types of stools

Even such a simple piece of furniture can be made in different variations and used for different needs. To decide which model you would like to receive as a result of the work, you should consider several similar products.

Children's stool

This version of the stool will not become superfluous in any home, as it is convenient not only for children, but also for adults. It is light in weight and compact in size, so it can easily be moved to any convenient place in the yard or at home, where it is needed at the moment, and even a small child can move it.

It is best to make such a model from a massive board, which must first be well processed. If it is required that the stool be very light, then dry linden is used for its manufacture, which has a beautiful textured pattern and a very low density.

If the thickness of the board taken for a small stool is at least 25 ÷ 30 mm, then only three main parts will need to be made - these are two legs and a seat that can be fastened with dowels, even without the use of additional reinforcing elements.

All parts of the product must be free of sharp corners and burrs. The blanks must be rounded and well polished so that there is no risk of injury or planting a splinter.

This piece of furniture can be used not only for sitting, but also as an ottoman, substituting it under your feet - this is especially often used by older people. Therefore, having made such a stool, you can please both kids and grandmothers by showing them your care.

Stool - drawer

It's not uncommon in a kitchen or workshop to run out of space for small items, and this stool model is great for clearing out some currently unused items on your desk. The boards that form the walls of the box strengthen the entire structure well and at the same time create a box where things can be placed that should always be easily accessible.

For example, women can use such a box to store needlework, as it is roomy enough and there is room for balls of yarn and knitting needles, as well as everything you need for hand embroidery or sewing.

The male half will calmly hide in a drawer under the seat some items of their household “arsenal” that are most often needed in the household - a hammer and nails, pliers and other not too large tools.

For the manufacture of such a product, you will need a well-crafted timber 50 × 50 mm, a board 200 ÷ 250 mm wide and 20 ÷ 25 mm thick, plywood for the bottom of the box and fasteners.

Folding stool

For small apartments with small kitchens or for small country houses, a folding stool is suitable. It can be kept constantly in the unfolded state, and if necessary, removed into any cabinet or niche between furniture and the wall, since when folded its thickness will be approximately 60 ÷ 80 mm, depending on the material chosen for manufacturing and design features.

The seat for this stool model can be made round or square, but each option has its own leg attachment design. The legs for such a stool are made of a board or thick, 20 ÷ 25 mm high-quality plywood. The base of the product consists of two frames, one of which must freely enter the other. The frames are fastened together from one side and the other with special screws with bushings or an axle-stud, which allows the structure to fold.

step stool

Another version of the stool, which can serve not only for sitting, but also act as a stepladder. Such a model is always useful both in a private house and in an apartment. For example, it is difficult to do without a stepladder during general cleaning, and it is also not easy to get the right thing from the top shelf of a high cabinet without it.

When folded, this design will not differ in any way from a conventional stool, since the steps will be under the seat. Turning a stool into a comfortable ladder is not difficult - you just need to pull the top of the temporarily inverted steps and carefully place them on the floor. The result is a sturdy and stable ladder that can also be used as a comfortable footrest when sitting on a stool.

To make this model, you will need massive boards for the seat and steps, as well as thick plywood for the legs and stringer under the steps.

Stool for giving

If you plan to use a stool in a summer cottage by type, only in a portable version, then you need to prepare a wooden beam for it, since plywood will not work in this case. Under the influence of moisture, it will begin to exfoliate, and the product will soon be hopelessly damaged.

For manufacturing, larch or oak is best suited. If other wood is chosen, then it will need to be well impregnated with moisture-repellent compounds, and then painted. Moreover, the process of pre-treatment of lumber is carried out even before the assembly of the structure.

Furniture used outdoors differs from that which is located indoors in that between the parts from which the seat and back are assembled (if a bench is made), gaps must be left so that rainwater does not linger on their surface, and details were ventilated faster.

Stool drawing

Having decided on the model of the future product, they make up its sketch-drawing, according to which all structural elements will be manufactured. When drawing up a drawing, all the necessary dimensions are immediately calculated and put on the figure. It is not at all necessary to make a diagram, observing all the canons and rules of drawing science - it will be enough even just to draw it by hand. The main thing is to be able to visually evaluate what will happen in the end, to see all the parameters of the necessary materials and the principle of their connection.

In the presented diagram, you can see the names of some of the parts that are included in the design of the stool - these are drawers, prolegs and "crackers". About them - a little more, so that in further descriptions it is clear what is at stake. All these details are necessary to fasten the structure and give it the necessary strength.

• Tsargi are bars or boards located under the seat of a stool and fastening the legs together with spiked joints, creating a strong support for the seat.
• A proleg is an element designed to increase the stability and rigidity of the structure. It is located in the central or lower part of the legs (according to their height) and also fastens them together with tongue and groove joints.
• "Crackers" are bars, boards or metal corners, installed diagonally on the inner corners of the structure under the seat and fixed to the sides and legs.

When drawing up a drawing, it is important to calculate not only the parameters of all visible structural details, but also the size of the internal connecting elements, such as the spikes cut out at the edges of the sides and the grooves in which they will be installed, selected in the legs of the stool.

Tools for the job

Without carpentry tools, making any piece of furniture from wood simply will not work. Professional master furniture makers have workshops fully equipped with special expensive machines. But in order to just try yourself as a carpenter, of course, you should not immediately purchase professional equipment, however, you still have to prepare some tools.

The list of the most popular tools for working with wood is as follows:

• It's great if the farm has a set of cutters that will help to process the edges of boards, timber and plywood, drill holes of various sizes or carefully select grooves and grooves on any of the details.

• To get rid of tedious operations, you will need a grinder with interchangeable wheels of varying degrees of grain size - to make the surface of the wood smooth. This work can be done manually, but it will take much more time.

• Electric jigsaw. This tool, of course, can be replaced with a hand saw, but after sawing the boards with it, the edges of the parts will not turn out neat, and you will have to work on them well using a milling cutter. Again, sawing the material by hand will take much longer.

• will be necessary not only for screwing in fasteners, but also for drilling holes in parts. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a set of screwdriver bits and drills of different diameters. Instead of a screwdriver, you can use any drill and a set of manual screwdrivers.

• Clamps of various sizes. If you want to make a really high-quality and durable thing, then clamps must be on hand without fail, since when gluing boards into a solid panel or individual parts together, they must be strongly compressed and left in this position for a sufficiently long time, and besides these No other tool can do this.
• You always need a hammer and chisels of different sizes. Sometimes you have to resort to using a planer - it can also be manual or electric.
• Measuring and marking equipment is being prepared - a tape measure, a construction square, a wooden ruler for 500 ÷ 1000 mm, a simple pencil, thickness gauge, etc.

In addition to these tools, for convenient work, you will need a fairly large and durable table - a workbench.

Making stools

folding stool

Traditional simple stool

The designs of even the simplest products may differ from each other by some elements, which, as a rule, are designed to give the stool additional strength.

Materials for manufacturing

A simple model of a stool looks like this and consists of parts indicated in the drawing by numbers:

1 - Legs.

2 - Stool legs.

3 - Tsargi.

4 - Seat.

5 - Connection elements - supports for installing the seat.

6 - Connecting grooves.

7 - Connecting grooves.

For the manufacture of traditional stools with a height of 500 mm, a seat of 450 × 450 mm and straight legs, the following parts will be required:

• Four, well processed, to smoothness, beams for legs, section 50 × 50 mm, height 485 mm. They can be straight or tapered downward cuts on the inside.
• For the seat, you need to prepare two or four boards 12 ÷ 20 mm thick, 450 × 225 mm or 450 × 112.5 mm in size, or a plywood panel 450 × 450 mm, 12 ÷ 20 mm thick.
• To give the stool strength, in different types of structures, 4 footrests and 4 drawers made of timber with a section of 30 × 30 and a length of 441 mm can be used, or only drawers - 4 boards with a section of 30 × 60 and a length of 441 mm.
• Additionally, connecting elements can be used, in the form of small pieces of bars fixed on the inside, in the middle of the sides, but you can do without them if bars of sufficient thickness are taken for the base under the seat.
• A beam of 30 × 30 mm for the manufacture of "crackers", if they are supposed to be installed.
• Wooden dowels (chops) for fixing the seat to the finished base - 4 pieces, 30 mm long and 8 ÷ 10 mm in diameter.
• Self-tapping screws.
• Joiner's glue.

Stool assembly

Illustration
	The first step, in order not to waste time, is to glue the boards for the seat if it will consist of several elements. To do this, well-fitted and polished end sides of the boards are smeared with glue, connected to each other and pulled together in clamps. This design should dry thoroughly, and while it sets, you can start assembling the frame base of the stool.
	Next, prepare the bars for the legs. They must have perfectly even cuts and be the same in height, which can vary, depending on the desire of the master, and range from 450 to 500 mm.
	The next step is marking on the legs and determining the place for selecting the connecting grooves for installing the spikes of the footboards and the tsarg (or only the tsarg if the footrests are not included in the design). Holes are selected using a milling cutter or chisel.
	Next, the edges of the tsarg and footrests are processed. Spikes are cut out on them with a width, height and depth less than 1 ÷ 1.5 mm than the openings of the grooves in the legs intended for them. The spikes should be loose enough, but still tightly fit into the grooves.
	After that, the legs are assembled in pairs, fastened together by means of footrests and tsarg - their spiked parts are glued into the grooves of the legs. Each of the resulting frames is pulled together in clamps. Then, after they dry, the legs connected in pairs are also connected by drawers and legs into a single design of the base of the stool and again compressed in clamps until completely glued. After the glue dries, all connections are additionally fixed with self-tapping screws.
	If it is supposed to strengthen the stool with “crackers”, then they are screwed to the tsargs and the leg of the stool. This element, flush with the top edge of the drawer side, will provide additional support for the seat.
	The next step is to mark and secure the seat of the stool. To do this, glue is applied to the reverse side of the panel according to the marking, and then it is laid on the finished base of the stool, leveled and pressed. Further, in the corners, through the seat panel, one hole is drilled, the diameter of which should be 1-2 mm larger than that of the prepared dowels, and the depth should be 5 mm less than their height. Glue is poured into the hole, and then the dowels are clogged. The glue that comes out is wiped off immediately. The top of the dowel is cut off with a milling cutter, and this place is polished to smoothness. In addition, the seat must be pulled off with clamps until the glue dries completely.

Glue can be designed for different drying times, and this is usually indicated on the packaging by the manufacturer. It is possible to operate the products only after the full expiration of the specified period.

Folding stool

The folding version of the stool is convenient because, due to its compactness, it can not only be stowed away in a small space of residential premises, but also easily fit in the trunk of a car for transportation to the country.

baby stool

Materials for manufacturing

To make such a model of a stool, you will need slightly different materials than those used for a traditional product. So, some craftsmen prefer to purchase finished processed furniture panels made of natural wood. They are great for cutting structural details, since, having cut them out of this material, it remains to process only their edges.

For the presented version of the stool, the master needed a panel measuring 1120 × 400 × 24 mm, and in addition to it, in addition, the following materials:

• A stud with threads cut on both sides and end nuts, 250 × 8 mm in size, for through installation, or a stud with blunt ends for installation in blind grooves.
• Butterfly furniture hinges with a size (opened) 350 × 400 mm - 4 pieces.
• Dowels or chopsticks 50 × 8 mm.
• Joiner's glue.
• Stain and colorless varnish or tinting varnish.
• Self-tapping screws 15÷20 mm long.

The dimensions of all structural details are clearly visible in the presented drawing.

The folding stool consists of the following parts:

• The seat is round, 350 mm in diameter.
• Frame 166 mm wide, consisting of two bars, 500 × 48 × 24 mm in size, and a cross member 122 mm long.
• A frame 122 mm wide of two bars 500 × 48 × 24 mm with cuts at the upper ends at an angle of 30 degrees, and crossbars 70 mm long.

Making a stool

Processing of parts and their assembly is carried out in the following order:

Illustration	Brief description of the operation to be performed
	It must be said that the seat can be round or square with rounded corners, the choice of the master. In this case, a round seat with a diameter of 350 mm is selected. For the convenience of folding the stool, a curved hole should be made in the upper part of the seat, about 120 mm long and 20 ÷ 25 mm wide, so that it is convenient to take it by hand. It can be cut with a milling cutter or drilled at a distance of 120 mm from each other two holes with a diameter of 20 ÷ 25 mm, and then connect them by sawing the wood between them with a jigsaw, making two cuts. In order for the hole to turn out neat and smooth, its edges must be immediately processed.
	The processing of the edge of the seat and the inner edges of the “handle” hole is most often done using a semicircular cutter. But if this tool is not available, then they are put in order, first using a file with a large notch (rasp), and then sandpaper of different grain sizes, gradually bringing the wood to smoothness.
	The next step is to process the prepared bars of the legs. In two of them, which will form the outer frame, you need to cut a groove 180 mm long and 8 mm wide, and 42 mm deep, along which the stud will go. Sometimes the grooves are made through - it is for this case that a threaded stud is selected at the ends, onto which a special plug nut is screwed. In the other two bars, according to the scheme, through holes with a diameter of 8 mm are drilled through which the pin will pass - these elements are intended for the manufacture of a narrow frame.
	The grooves are cut using a milling cutter, or holes with a diameter of 8 mm are drilled along the intended line, which are then combined into a common groove using a jigsaw. The work is carried out on a special machine, or the beam is rigidly fixed in a vice, and then holes are drilled in it using a drill or screwdriver.
	The bars that will form the inner, narrower frame of the stool, in the upper part, must be carefully sawn off at an angle of 30 degrees - this process can be done on a machine tool or using a miter box. The corner must be cut perfectly precisely, so you can not do this work "by eye". On the bottom of the legs, the corners and edges are recommended to be slightly rounded.
	The crossbars installed between the legs are mounted on dowels, which are glued into the drilled holes. This process can be done in different ways. Most often, first, a jumper for glue is installed in the place intended for it, the legs are compressed in clamps, and left to dry completely. Then, through the outer side of the legs, through holes are drilled, which go deep into the end sides of the jumpers, at least 20 ÷ 25 mm. After that, dowels are carefully driven into the holes on the glue. Two fasteners are required on each side of the jumpers.
	On the back of the seat, according to the drawing, the markings are made of the places where the butterfly loops will be attached. Then, the loops are laid on the marked place and outlined. Further. from this place, a landing “nest” is selected with a depth equal to the thickness of the loop, that is, the loop, when fixed, should be flush with the main wooden surface.
	Next, the loops are fixed on the upper end sides of the legs. They are screwed with self-tapping screws, the caps of which should be in the same plane with the surface of the hinges. In the next step, the second side of the loops is fixed in the nests prepared for them on the back of the seat.
	To make the design look neat, it is recommended to close the hairpin with a tube carved from wood. You can also replace the wooden version of the element that masks the hairpin with a plastic tube, since it is not so easy to carve this part out of wood. The length of the tube should be 68 mm, the inner diameter is 9 mm, the wall thickness of the tube can be from 2 to 10 mm.
	Further, the hairpin is inserted into a narrower frame through the prepared decorative tube, and its ends are inserted into the grooves of the outer, wider frame, along which they will walk when folding and unfolding the stool.
	I must say that the folding stool may have a slightly different design. It uses not one, but two studs, and instead of an internal frame, a solid board is fixed, and it serves as an equally reliable leg for a stool. The second, outer frame has a jumper in its lowest part, at such a level that when the structure is folded, the leg board fits neatly into it, creating one panel. The fastening of such legs to the seat is carried out in exactly the same way as in the first version of the folding stool.
	For comparison, you can see how one and the other model of the finished product looks like, and choose the one you like for manufacturing. It is probably not difficult to understand that the second design option is simpler in execution.

Stool with wicker seat

A stool with a wicker surface can be made in a low or full, high version - it will be convenient in any case. Its seat can be made of various materials - durable fabric, belts (including old car seat belts), cord and even a plastic-braided cable. It is quite possible to come up with your own version.

Materials for manufacturing

The frame for such products is mounted, in principle, according to one scheme, however, if a high stool for an adult is to be made, then the design should be more reliable, that is, it is desirable to strengthen it with strong drawers and legs. We must not forget that the seat of a traditional stool is also a reinforcing part of the structure, and its wicker version itself requires a particularly strong frame.

So, for the frame of a rectangular stool, having a size of 500 × 400 mm, you will need:

• Wooden blocks 50×50 mm for the legs – their height can be chosen individually.
• Bars for drawers and footrests, section 50 × 25 mm.
• Metal or wooden corner elements - "crackers".
• Self-tapping screws.
• Leather or synthetic straps, or strong rope in one or two colors.

We note right away that the model shown in the example has a fairly large seat, which reduces the overall strength of the stool. Therefore, it may be more reasonable to make this structural element a little smaller, for example, 350 × 300 mm.

Find out by reading the options from "classic" to "transformer" in a special article on our portal.

Making a stool

The manufacture of such a stool is carried out in the following order:

Illustration	Brief description of the operation to be performed
	From the bars prepared for work, the structural elements of the stool are cut. The legs are available in heights from 300 to 500 mm, and the model shown is 400 mm high. In order for the legs to be stable, their end parts must be perfectly even. Therefore, they should be marked on a construction square, and it is advisable to saw them with a circular saw, which will give a perfect cut.
	The next step is to prepare the bars for the legs and the tsarg. In this case, 4 beams are cut out with a length of 450 mm and 4 beams - 300 mm each. These elements should also have smooth edges for a snug fit to the legs.
	To make holes for fastening structural elements at a certain angle, a special tool (jig) is used that can direct the drill bit in the right direction. This device is fixed on a bar, and two holes are drilled through its guide holes on each side of the wooden part. After all the elements of the stool are ready, they should be cleaned well - this process is best done before assembling the structure, since it will be easier to see all the problem areas on the wood.
	This photo shows how such holes look inside the timber.
	Additional fastening of the tsarg and footrests with legs can also be carried out with the help of “thorn-groove” fasteners, and then, for maximum reliability, also with metal corners - “crackers”. These parts must be selected according to the width of the wooden bars.
	If the first mounting option is chosen, using self-tapping screws, then the assembly and fixation of all parts of the stool look as shown in the presented photo.
	At the end of the assembly, the stool frame should be strong and stable. When relying on it, it should not swing.
	If it is planned to be painted or tinted, then this process is carried out before the seat is made.
	To equip the seat for the model shown in this example, it took 17 leather straps, 35 mm wide. As already mentioned, seat belts used in cars can be used instead. The belts are screwed with two self-tapping screws 10 mm in size at a distance of 9 mm from each other, on the wide side of the beam, which goes inside the stool frame. The length of the belts must be measured in advance using a tape measure, “going” with its flexible tape all the way the belt is located. First you need to fasten the straps, which will be located along the length of the rectangle. Having fixed the belts from the inside, they go around the beam, pull it through the seat frame to the opposite beam-side, go around it and also fix it on the inside with the help of the same self-tapping screws.
	After the longitudinal belts are fixed, the belts should be fixed in the same way, which will cross the already stretched elements across. They are screwed along one of the long sides of the frame. Then, each of the belts is passed across through the longitudinal belts, in the form of weaving. After that, they are also wrapped on the inside of the opposite side, stretched and screwed. After completing this operation, you can proceed to the “testing” of the product.
	Another design option for a flexible stool seat is to pull a strong rope or cord onto the frame. In this case, paper rope was used. In addition to it, it is necessary to prepare furniture nails with wide hats and a hammer, as well as clamp pliers and an awl.
	You can purchase a rope of different colors for weaving and display one of the selected patterns on the surface of the seat, getting a stylish piece of furniture that will complement the interior design.
	The end of the rope of the same color is nailed to the back side of the drawer with the help of two furniture nails.
	Further, two long opposite sides of the frame are carefully wrapped with a rope. If the frame is square, then the process of laying the rope can be started from either side of the structure.
	Braiding opposite tsars with a rope, its loops are pressed against each other as tightly as possible and pulled. Having covered approximately 100 ÷ 120 mm of the seat length with a braid, the rope is temporarily fixed with tongs so that it does not weaken. So they continue to work until the entire surface of the seat is covered with a wound rope.
	Having finished the tight-fitting of the seat in two drawers in one color, you can proceed to weaving it across with a twine of a different color. To do this, in this case, a white rope is taken and also fixed on the back of the drawer, which runs parallel to the already wound rope.
	With the help of a white cord, any pattern can be “highlighted” from a red background. This process is relatively simple, and will be accessible even to a beginner.
	In this case, white cords are pulled between the red rope so that the result is a herringbone pattern, that is, stripes are obtained that turn diagonally from the center of the seat.
	Having interlaced 6 ÷ 8 rows and pulled them, the white rope is grabbed on the reverse side of the tsargi with a furniture nail. If this is not done, the seat will quickly stretch and sag during operation of the stool. This procedure must be carried out every 6 ÷ 8 rows, hammering nails on one or the opposite side.
	The result should be a sturdy seat, four threads thick, with an interesting design. If you want to choose a different pattern, woven from three or even four colors of rope, then on the Internet you can always find exactly what suits a particular interior.

It should be noted that in the second version, where the seat is covered with a rope, the frame is not very strong and is unlikely to withstand heavy people, but such a stool is perfect for a child's room or as a footrest. If you want to make a full-fledged product for the seat, you need to choose a more massive beam for the frame and strengthen it especially reliably.

Find out by exploring several available options in a special article on our portal.

In conclusion, it is worth saying that making a stool on your own, without having experience with wood and a special tool, is not so simple as it seems at first glance. However, if there is a desire and enough patience, then it is quite possible to try yourself as a carpenter. The main thing is that you need to tune in to serious work, and not do it “slipshod”.

Video: a master class on making a simple wooden stool

To make a stool with your own hands, no special skills needed. To carry out this type is within the power of a person who has no experience. In addition, this is a creative process that will require minimal costs and bring a lot of positive emotions. You can show your imagination and make a unique stool that will delight the owners of the apartment with its appearance. You can also gift it to someone. Beautiful wooden stool combines individual style and functionality.

Stages

First of all, you should prepare for the upcoming work. To do this, it is necessary to highlight the main stages. First, it is necessary to determine what material the stool will be made of. Secondly, you need to make a drawing. Next, prepare all the necessary tools that will be needed during works, and buy material.

Material for manufacturing

The stool can be made of different materials such as glass, metal, plastic and others. You can also combine metal and wood or metal and glass. There are many options for making stools. But at the initial stage it is recommended to start with a tree.