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This folding stepstool is an old project I did in '02. Our kitchen cupboards go clear to the ceiling, and we have 8'6" ceilings, making it difficult for my wife to reach the upper storage. This is something she needs to do more than most, she is an artist with food and does personal meals and catering.

But the stool has been a great experiment in finish endurance for me. I usually spray pre-cat lacquers as a professional, you can't beat the dry time. I can shoot 4 coats in an hour on a project, 3 coats even in the winter.

On this I did not want a film finish because it folds, and pre-cat lacquers will not hold up to foot traffic, food spills, and water areas. (It is excellent for all the furniture I have done.) I have read many times that Danish oil is not very durable or protective, but I was curious to try it myself. I warmed the can in a shallow bucket of hot water, and generously fed oil to the wood. I had to continually wipe all the oil bleeding out of the pores until it stopped. The stool gets a new coat of oil once a year since, and it has held up very well.

It gets used everyday, gets food all over it, gets wiped off, stepped on, chipped, and the finish has worked out wonderfully. A little oil and 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper will take off the grime, and a few shop towels to apply a fresh coat of oil and wipe off the excess. Just like new!

The stool plans came from a Taunton book, "Classic Kitchen Projects", by Niall Barrett.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the black walnut was a salvaged handrail, and I did not have enough of it so I used scrap ash to make up the difference.

Gallery

Comments

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Todd. This is a great design. What is the wood. Nice heartwood and sap wood contrasts.
 

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Todd, this stool is a very nice example of how a small project can have the same challenges as a big project can. Well done!
 

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what kind of lacquer??
 

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MsDeb,

I use a pre-catalyzed lacquer. It is a lacquer that has a catalyst drying agent added right before it leaves the store. It has a pot life of about 6 months. It offers more protection than the nitrocelulose lacqers off the shelf at the box stores. It has a greater level of application performance too.
 

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ah!! Thanks for the info
 

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Posting the stool was actually to share the experience with the oil finish. I hope I did this in time for Chellar to help with his decision.
 

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Nice work! It's not often that I see a stool like this that the wife would want to have on display. I think she would use this one everywhere.
 

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Walnut & Ash look great together. The Ash has some beautiful figure in the grain.
 

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I wholeheartedly agree with Rog and Dan about turning an otherwise mundane piece into something very special. Beautiful job Todd.
 

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Very nice work. What does heating the oil do?

Chelle
 

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Warming the oil helps it penetrate the wood. I have done it cold too. On reapplying I just do it cold, it does not require much to redo it anyway. Initially, I think it makes a difference. A small bucket of water is safe too, no flames or burners.
 

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I'll have to give that a try. But first I have a little more sawdust to make and then I have to clean up…
 

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Todd, I missed this one when it first came up. I like all of the projects that you've shown us. This one is more to the scale of the project that I build, so I've added to my favorites list as a possible future project.

Nice work.
 

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good information on the finish, I like the ease of re-application versus stripping and starting over. there's plenty of spots in the house the cats have ruined the finish on… (windowsills, etc…) this info will sure come in handy down the road.
 

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Great piece of work Todd, well made.
 

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Very nice step stool. Great christmas idea !!
 
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