Stool
Duration
5 Weeks
Date
Fall 2025
Incorporation of Materiality in Design
The goal of this project was to learn the materials we were working with. In this case wood. In this process we also designed as we went through the project, learning the constraints of the material and the constraints of the design itself. Along with the materiality this design had to fit in a place and have a purpose.
Skills used: Woodworking, CAD, Integration, Human Interaction
Early Concept Sketches
A series of sketches that would eventually to CAD modeling. These were iteration heavy following 3 main sub sets of furniture including post and slab, post and beam, and post and rung. I would then take the best out of these sketches and make CAD models based on them.
Orthographic drawings
These Orthographic drawings were used to finalize the design to get ready to build. These drawings include all joinery and accurate sizes. This was then printed full scale to see any proportion problems with the finalized CAD model.
Constructing the Seat
The seat was constructed completely by hand consisting first of making the mortises. these were done by using ramps set at different angles of 11 and 14 degrees from 90 giving the back legs a more dramatic angle then the ones in the front. The bowl of the seat was done with an angle grinder with a shaping wheel. This would have normally been done with a CNC, however, due to project restraints, was done by hand. The fillet on the bottom was done using a flat bottomed spoke shave.
Constructing the Legs and Rungs and Finishing
The 11 legs and rungs were done using a lathe. A relatively new process to me, turning was challenging to get the hang of, but a very fun process. Although several mess ups in the process made this challenging, these were produced quite fast. Finishing was done with a beeswax and orange oil mixture after the many steps of sanding. This would leave a semi gloss to near matte finish that brought out the warm colors of the red oak used.
Take Away
The production of this stool was a fun process to say the least. Learning new skills on top of the ones I already knew was extremely interesting. The stool itself is sturdy, and almost overly structured with the rungs being too thick then needed. In addition to this the stool top, in the process of hand making it, came out too long in the front compared to the back. This however is not too noticeable from many angles. The design itself is post and slab, with some elements that is not normally found in post and slab including the double rungs on the side and the handle on the back. Overall, this was a welcome project to end the semester.