Three Legged Stool From Salvaged Wood
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So I was taking my garden waste to the local recycling centre and saw some old staircase parts on top of the wood disposal skip. The recycling centre has strict official policies on salvaging but very obliging staff. Needless to say, no one saw anything that day, but I mysteriously ended up with some sapele in my workshop.
I thought it would be a good time to make a three legged stool as per Paul’s Working Wood 1&2 and also youtube video series a couple of months back.
Although the salvaged stock wasn’t without limitations, the project was straightforward and rewarding – I finally made friends with my spokeshave (see my recent post on spokeshave tuning).
Are the legs perfectly round? No, but they are close. Am I pleased with the result? Definitely. Look Mum, no lathe!
It’s finished in Danish Oil and furniture wax which gives a lovely colour and sheen, but in the harsh sunlight some imperfections show up where the wax residue sits 🙁 Looks nicer indoors where the light is more forgiving though, so that is where it will stay 🙂
I gave it to my 4 year old daughter. She looked really pleased, then quite shocked and said ‘What happened to the other leg Daddy?!’!
Outstanding and great use of recycling. Just curious as to why you didn’t utilize the scrolled part of the salvaged wood into the legs of the stool?
Thanks Brett @pheasantww.
I wanted to follow the process Paul used for his stool which was to taper and shape the legs from square stock as it was interesting and a great learning experience for me. I think I might also have felt like I “cheated” somehow if I used the machined scrolled parts.
The stock for the legs I used the three longest square sections of the spindles. The seat was made from the handrail and shorter square sections of the spindles, planed and laminated – that was why I had to go for an oval seat with the grain running front to back.
I still have the unused scrolled parts and the Newell post left over, so may still find a used for them!
… plus I would have had to strip off the preexisting varnish from the scrolled parts or they wouldn’t have matched the finish on the seat and that might have been troublesome.
As it was, it was trivial to plane the poly varnish off while squaring up the stock.
Great use of wood destined for landfill. Dig it!! The stool looks great, even with a missing leg.
Beautiful!
The taper of the legs looks very natural and organic. Excellent job!
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