| Project by dataman | posted 2254 days ago | 1788 views | 5 times favorited | 20 comments | ![]() |
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We recently learned that we will become instant grand parents when our daughter maries a fellow with two adorable kids. Being 5 and 3 they want to help with everything – even the dishes (can you imagine that?) They are also a bit short on stature so our daughter asked if we had any stools that they could use. We have one that I had previously made for my wife so we pulled it out and it worked well for the 5 year old but the little buy just couldn’t quite make it above the counter to help.
So I got busy and designed a 2-step step stool that is portable and that can be used as 2 stools or as one double step. Keeping safety in mind I build them so when used together they have a positive latch so that if the little one climbs onto it they won’t slide apart. I used popular and clear urethane finish.
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20 comments so far
MsDebbieP
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18320 posts in 2329 days
#1 posted 2254 days ago
I want one of these.
When it “latches”... it will work as a step stool as well as jus a single unit – -making it a 3-purpose stool? That’s how I’m seeing it, not sure if that is right or not.
It’s a brilliant design, very practical and functional.
Brilliant (and beautiful)
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
BassBully
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258 posts in 2265 days
#2 posted 2254 days ago
Very effective design. I’ve never worked with poplar but will soon as I’m going to make bench legs with it. How is it to work with?
-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!
dataman
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85 posts in 2439 days
#3 posted 2254 days ago
Debbie – You are correct!
Bass – I fould popular to be much like pine. It still will dent easilly but had no trouble with it pealing of the grain on the flat surfaces as pine sometimes does.
dennis mitchell
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3994 posts in 2482 days
#4 posted 2254 days ago
I like the design
Max
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55745 posts in 2441 days
#5 posted 2254 days ago
Very practical and a nice design….
-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT
dataman
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85 posts in 2439 days
#6 posted 2254 days ago
Thanks all!
I love coming up with original ideas.
Had a hard time picking the pictures since for some reason even though the back is perpendicular to the floor but in just about all of the pictures it appears to lean back. I even took a picture with a square near it to prove it! Guess it’s an optical illusion.
Shawn
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225 posts in 2321 days
#7 posted 2254 days ago
these look great dataman
-- Cheers
markrules
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146 posts in 2283 days
#8 posted 2254 days ago
I like the triple use of this project. Poplar looks wonderful here. I’m going to show this one to my wife (my project manager).
Nicky
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422 posts in 2260 days
#9 posted 2254 days ago
I really like this design. Good job!
-- Nicky
Karson
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34370 posts in 2569 days
#10 posted 2254 days ago
This is a great design.
We had a stool in our bathroom when our kids were small. It said “Stand up to be tall, Sit down to be small”
After 15 years of looking at the stool. when ever you went to the bathroom you turned the stool upside down, put it in the bathtub. because you were sitting there with nothing to do but read that stool.
So when my youngest daughter had a child I had my oldest daughter make a monogrammed cover. I made the stool and we presented this to her. Now she has that problem and we had a good laugh.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
Sawhorse
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281 posts in 2608 days
#11 posted 2254 days ago
Nesting stools….hmmmmmmm I like it, nice design and very functional. I like Poplar as well, mills-up easier than pine, but it is more expensive. Have you ever tried Beech, excellent hardwood mills-up great and is usually less expensive than Oak.
-- Sawhorse - Sulphur Springs, TX - www.sawhorseworkshop.com
W. Paul
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44 posts in 2258 days
#12 posted 2254 days ago
I really like the locking mechanism. It’s simple and will obviously be very effective! It even adds a little extra interest to the piece, and thus serves the form as well as the function.
-- Paul, Wildwood, MO; (Ps 145: 1-2)
MikeB
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46 posts in 2257 days
#13 posted 2254 days ago
looks solid!
-- MikeB, Aurora, Oregon
CharlieM1958
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14856 posts in 2386 days
#14 posted 2253 days ago
VERY cool design, and well executed!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
Dick, & Barb Cain
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8681 posts in 2468 days
#15 posted 2253 days ago
Nice design, it’s funny, for years I called this wood Poplar, but then I worked with foresters on my job, & they called it Aspen.
Now I have to get used to calling it Poplar again. LOL
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
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