This is the original top piece of the stool that my mother gave me for reference. I think it is made out of pine. You can see where the pieces rested on its surface.
This is the second level support pieces. The angle of the legs is reflected in the compound cut that keeps the piece resting on it flat when assembled.
I needed to find the right angle for the legs and this piece provided it as it is where the legs are connected to the top.
I rendered the stool on my computer so I could have a better look at it before I made all the pieces.
The wood I chose for the stool is Maple as it is a hard wood and would stand up to more abuse than the pine of the old stool. These are all the parts of the stool before assembly.
The hole in the lid is utilitarian as you can use it to pick the stool up with a free hand and carry it around.
The legs have a compound cut on them that required a delicate approach to make. The legs are identical diagonally but not laterally so they can only go in two positions on the stool.
I left the screws visible because that is how they were presented on the old version and I wanted to keep the aesthetic as close to the old one as possible.
One of my siblings remembered that the stools will actually stack on top of one another. I also made a plywood version before the solid wood version for practicing the construction techniques needed to assemble the stool.
The final product ended up coming together very well. The hard wood Maple was a bit tricky to work with but it finished very well. I gave this stool to my sister for a wedding present as it reflected our family's past in a new way as her marriage was a new beginning as well.
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Shoemaker Stool
My Great-grandfather made a simple step stool for his wife who was rather short and could not reach the high cabinets in their new home. Over 60 years later my mother gave me the pieces of that stool in the hopes that I could make her a new one. I remade the design and I also refined it while connecting with my past in a very fulfilling way.
