46 - Utility Workbench, страница 6
Adjusting the height of this shop stool is a snap. Just give the seat a spin. Adjustable Height Shop Stool LEG PATTERN know, it sounds complicated. But it isn't much more difficult than sharpening a pencil. All it takes is a dowel and a simple thread-cutting jig. (For more information, refer to page 12.) STABILITY. But the real test of a stool is if it's stable enough to keep from tipping when you sit down. To create a stable base, a stool needs to be wider at the bottom than the top. This usually requires a lot of fussing around with tricky angles. But with this stool, I avoided that altogether. CURVED LEGS. The secret is a gentle, 'S-shaped' curve on each leg. The lower, vertical sections of the legs are joined to a thick, triangular support at right angles. Then the legs curve inward to meet a second (smaller) support — also at a 90° angle. LEG BLANKS. Even though the legs are nicely curved, there's nothing delicate about them. They're made from thick hardwood blanks. (I used lV^'-thick maple.) After cutting three blanks to final size, transfer the Leg Pattern (shown at left) to one of the blanks. It's also a good idea to lay out the location of the two wide notches that will accept the supports. CUT TO SHAPE. Once the layout is complete, the next step is to cut the legs to rough shape. A band saw makes quick work of this, see-Fig. 1. As you guide the blank through! the blade, stay about Vie" to the waste side of the lines. Also, don't worry about cutting the notches yet. It's best to cut them in all three legs at the same time. After cutting the leg to rough shape, it's just a matter of mounting a drum sander in the drill press and sanding up to the lines. Then use this leg as a template to lay out the other two legs and repeat the process. CUT NOTCHES. The next step is to cut the notches for the supports. When it comes to finding a place in the shop that's at a comfortable working height, I often feel like Goldilocks looking for the perfect size chair. Depending on the project I'm working on, it's either too tall or too short. (Alright, sometimes it does happen to he just right) But more often than not, the table height is somewhere in between. That's why I built this shop stool. It has a threaded wood post that raises and lowers the seat like an old-fashioned piano stool. (The seat adjusts from 2272" to 291/21'.) THREADED POST. So where do you get a post with wood threads? It's simple — you make it yourself. I NOTE: transfer pattern to 1'/2"-thick leg blank FIRST: transfer grip pattern to leg blank LEG BLANK (4%" x 1S"-11/2"-thick hardwood) 6 ShopNotes No. 46 |
