Make Use Of Your Offcuts & Learn to Weave… all While Building This Delightful Danish Stool!
[Update:]This series has now completed. The videos take you step-by-step through the build, including how to weave the seat (Watch the intro above).
The series can be purchased by Clicking Here
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You asked us for another ‘one board project’, and this is what we came up with.
It’s a popular request;
“Can we create a project that needs just one board to build?“
Well this stool should certainly tick that box because the whole thing was built from little more than a 2′ chunk of wood.
And it’s been designed to be versatile. You could rip 1″ wide strips from a 2″ thick board, or vice versa.
So not only is it less than a ‘one board project’, but it could be an ideal build to make use of some offcuts you’ve got laying around already.
The Danish Stool Design
This build is deceptively complex.
The challenge with coming up with a build that uses minimal timber is making sure it looks somewhat impressive when it’s done! We wanted a proper piece of furniture, not something naff that looked like it had been knocked up out of some old pallet wood!
The stool is small, which makes it a fast build particularly at the prep stage. But every joint within it is angled, and as the piece comes together those angles can cause a bit of head scratching.
The build becomes a fantastic exercise in practicing angled joints.
We discuss why they all need approaching differently, and cover a few tricks to ensure that in each situation the resulting joint is crisp and strong.
The Hand Tools
Our usual basic kit of hand tools will cover your needs for this build.
I’ve treated myself to some new Japanese saws and so for the sake of showing a different approach I saw rather than split the tenon cheeks through this build. Of course if you prefer you can certainly stick with splitting.
Other than the usual list of hand tools I’ve also used a bandsaw to speed up the prep. If you don’t have one though then it’s a very manageable project to rip out by hand as we’ve done in the past.
The tool kit itself can be incredibly minimal:
- The usual marking & measuring tools.
- Joinery Saws. For ripping and crosscuts.
- A Jack Plane. (Different irons may be required for roughing & smoothing).
- Chisels. Strong bevel edge for morticing, plus for paring and fettling.
- Router Plane. Optional, but a fantastic addition for fine tuning joinery.
- Mallet | Drill (I opted for electric) | Clamps.
The Techniques
We show the full build from rough board to finished stool.
Along the way we go through everything from prepping the stock to shaping each component.
All of the joinery is mortice and tenons, and every joint shows a different situation –
Sometimes we angle the mortice, sometimes we angle the tenon. And every time the marking and fitting needs a different approach. The thought process behind each decision is also explained as we go.
Weaving The Seat
We detail the entire process of weaving the seat from start to finish. If you haven’t done this before I think you’re going to find it’s a wonderful skill to add, especially if you enjoy creating your own designs.
The process is easy to learn, but it does require plenty of focus and time to execute it with strength and neatness. It’s worth it though, once it’s finished the result can be very beautiful and adds a wonderful depth to the build.
We’ve used a 3mm black Danish paper cord to be authentic with the weave, although almost any cord would do the trick here.
See here for more details of what you’ll find in each of the videos.
The Videos
There are seven chapters in total.
[Update:] The series is now complete. All videos are available for immediate access to stream &/ or download.
A cutting list and full PDF plans are also included.
The series can be purchased HERE
If you’re already a Member then you may need to Login first
For further details on what’s covered in each of the videos, have a look here.
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