| Blog series by Mark Gipson | updated 1523 days ago | 5 parts | 3416 reads | 13 comments total |
Part 1: My first real woodworking project
One of the excuses I used to get started with woodworking (and spend money on tools of course) was that I wanted to build 5 footstools for our beauty salon. Our customers currently rest their feet on some rather horrible pink plastic footstools that cost 49 baht or less from the local supermarket. They look a bit out of place and the top is hard to keep clean. I can do better than that I thought! This blog will detail my adventures in trying to build these footstools. These are my first real ...
Part 2: First stool finished!
I got a bit of shop time this week and have finished my first project! One footstool is completed, only 4 more to go. I plugged the screw holes using 3/8” dowel, or at least dowel that was sold as 3/8”, each plug required quite a bit of sanding before it would fit in a 3/8” hole. I have since ordered a tapered plug cutter and will have to try and figure out a way of using it without a drill press to cut my own plugs for the next stool. I finished the stool with a golde...
Part 3: Looking for some advice
Salon footstool #2 is well under way and I am looking for some advice from fellow lumberjocks. As I mentioned in my previous blog entries I am using these footstools to try and learn a little about woodworking and try some different techniques on each one. For this stool I decided to make templates for the curves on the legs and stretcher. I cut a template from plywood after using Sketchup to make a paper template that was printed at actual size. I rough cut with the jigsaw and then used m...
Part 4: Progressing nicely
Thanks to some cooler weather, hiring some more staff for the salon and the arrival of a small shipment of tools from the UK I have been making some good progress on the footstools for our salon. Footstool #2 has been completed. I used my new plug cutter to make my own plugs for the screw holes which was much quicker than sanding shop bought dowel to fit. I found out why plug cutters are meant to be used with a drill press, it’s kind of tricky to use with just a hand drill and no kin...
Part 5: Nearly there
The salon footstool project is nearing completion, I am just waiting for the finish to cure for the recommended 72 hours before I deliver the footstools and finally trash the pink plastic items these will replace.I made stool 4 and 5 as the same as number 3 using a through mortice and tenon for the stretcher. My practise attempts at wedging the tenon were not very successful so I decided to leave that for another project. These stools will be used for resting the feet rather than standing on ...
