I was trying to make some new saw horses and needed to mark the same angle on both sides and both ends of the cross bar. That’s when I figured out I’m going to need to get me a bevel guage one of these days. Since I couldn’t run out and get one, I improvised this one. Mine is just two end cuts of a two by four with a wood screw through the end. Simple and effective but I had to use it in combination with my twelve inch combination square. There must be more people that have made their own with better results. I’d love to see others.

This one is the latest in a what turns out to have been a series of four stools I designed. This one was inspired by a sunny day and extra wood scraps from a raised bed garden for my wife. We also love to garden. We have both been looking at the woodworking shows available on TV like Norm and David. Finally the mystique of the dovetail joint caught up with us. I’ve been able to do a lot more reading recently and I’ve fallen even more in love with the beauty of a dovetail joint. Hand cut, machine cut, template cut, center cut, or what have you… I love them all.

So, that Saturday I laid out the tails and pins or was it the pins then the tails? I can’t remember now. Anyway, we cut them with the jig saw (new blades too). We took turns holding down the wood while the other one cut. We’re going to get some clamps soon. ;-) If my memory serves me, it took several hours of shop time over more than one Saturday to do all the cutting.

When we got close to finished except for a little clean up, I got impatient and dry fit it with a hammer. Well, it fit so good, I just left it like you see it above. If we can work a new router bit into the budget, I think the joint is large enough to cut without a template and I may take a stab at cleaning it up. But, since I don’t have any equipment to take the bow out of the wood, I don’t think that will improve the fit much. I’ve got no finish on this stool but I hope it will darken like the others in this series. I can vouch for the strength of the joint because even without glue or nails it has just this day survived a fall of four feet onto concrete and didn’t budge a bit.

Anyway, this project has already served as inspiration in other ways for us. After we marveled at how we felt a sense of accomplishment out of such an uglyjoint, we couldn’t help ourselves. We bought a real Japanese type dovetail saw for around $30 US. Our next project is a small box. We have some high end oak from the local Home Despot we intend to convert into four sides connected by dovetails. Hmmmm… can’t wait…..

Thanks for your time,

This stool was created in an effort to make a stool that was sturdy enough for a six year old to sit on and drag around and whatever. I wanted it to have a stronger joint than the dado I used on the previous stool. The only thing I could think of was this half lap sort of joint you see above. If that’s not the correct description, please let me know. The wood is again pine. Finish will be provided by Addie again (six year old daughter). No glue, just four deck screws per end. Very strong joint.

The joint was made with my mitre saw since I didn’t have any blades for my jig saw at the time. Looking back, I would NEVER repeat that cut nor recommend it to anyone else. I’m just beginning to have a healthy fear of my woodworking tools after reading a lot of the posts here. Lesson learned.

Thanks for your time,

I made the first stool for my wife to use at church after her first back operation. That was the first stool project in Lumberjock speak. The first stool was even simpler than the second one being shown here. I made it out of lumber my nephew had left over from his job as a swing set installer. I think it was redwood. It was made like this one except it didn’t have a dado joint, just two screws on each side to form the letter “H”. Like this one, there is a low setting and a high setting achieved by turning the stool over. That way my wife is able to get some degree of flexability from a simple stool.

This stool is not used by my wife at church though. This one is used by my six year old daughter, Addie, who said “Oohh dad, can I have one too?” Well, I couldn’t say no but I knew she would have the lighter model I made for my wife in pieces in pretty short order. So, I decided I had seen Norm enough to figure out how to make a dado. Easy right? If you have a table saw, it’s easy. I only have a jig saw (a 1970 model I’ve had since childhood), circular saw (mid 1980s), cordless drill (2003), compound mitre saw (2005), and a router (2006). After racking my brain, I came up with a way to make the dado with my circular saw by clamping some plywood strips to the leg boards and nibbling away the wood.

The results are sturdy enough to hold a very active six year old. The finish is natural so Addie can decorate as she sees fit. The wood is 2×8 pine. I sanded all the splinters out and used the router to round over the edges as best I could.

I’m aware after spending dozens and dozens of hours looking at all the incredible projects here at Lumberjocks that this doesn’t amount to much. But, I’m posting it anyway. And I’m going to post the rest of the stools I’ve done too. The reason is that after reading so many comments for so many projects, I’ve yet to see any negative comments. Not even one. So, I’m going to record my work here in the hopes that I’ll grow and some day be able to look back and see improvement in my work. I may some day give others with beginner level skills the courage to post their work or at least continue to try.

Thanks for your time,