Project Information
A few years ago, many of my friends and I went from 0 to 60 down the parenthood journey. Fast forward to today, and birthday parties seem to be popping twice a month. While most of the time, my wife is in charge of the birthday presents, I decided to make this step stool for an old roommate's son, who turns 3 at the end of April. The design was inspired from a stool I saw at Pottery Barn Kids.
The stool is made from two 8 foot S4S 1×6 poplar board that received the wrong end of a forklift. Due to the damage, I saved this particular board from the trash of a local hardwood dealer (with their permission of course). After cutting around the damage, I ended up with a good amount of workable good pieces that I edge glued to create wide enough panels for the stool. No fancy joinery, just butt joints held together with glue and #6 Spax screws. Finish is 3 coats General Finishes milk paint (a mix of General Finishes Snow White and Federal Blue). The part of this project that I think makes me deserve a pat on the back for, is that I actually finished the present BEFORE the occasion (wedding presents average 5 months behind schedule, and I'm already 6 months past my daughter's 2nd birthday present, well on the way to reserving her present for her 4th birthday).
The pictures I posted shares the build journey.
UPDATE: A few notes about the stool
The stool is made from two 8 foot S4S 1×6 poplar board that received the wrong end of a forklift. Due to the damage, I saved this particular board from the trash of a local hardwood dealer (with their permission of course). After cutting around the damage, I ended up with a good amount of workable good pieces that I edge glued to create wide enough panels for the stool. No fancy joinery, just butt joints held together with glue and #6 Spax screws. Finish is 3 coats General Finishes milk paint (a mix of General Finishes Snow White and Federal Blue). The part of this project that I think makes me deserve a pat on the back for, is that I actually finished the present BEFORE the occasion (wedding presents average 5 months behind schedule, and I'm already 6 months past my daughter's 2nd birthday present, well on the way to reserving her present for her 4th birthday).
The pictures I posted shares the build journey.
- The finished stool
- Lamination of the poplar boards
- Dry assembly (before the feet were completely shaped)
- Assembled, and screw holes covered with wood filler
- Primed (2 coats of Zinsser 123 primer)
- Painted
UPDATE: A few notes about the stool
- I had my daughter test the stool height out. It passes the toddler bathroom sink test
- Since the test, my daughter kept insisting that "daddy fix" her friend's stool
- My friends who know about this stool build have all been joking that I made it "for my future son-in-law"