Why Not Build A Stump Stool?

(Page 2 of 2)

November/December 1977
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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This can be the end of the job right here ... if you want a completely natural, unfinished piece of furniture. Otherwise, you may want to plane and/or sand the stool's top surface and finish the piece off with a stain and a coat of varnish. (I prefer the unfinished gray or tan wood, myself.) If you decide to use a stain, remember to work quickly, since the porous wood will soak the liquid up within seconds. (Use a brushand-wipe, brush-and-wipe system.) Be ready, too, for the wood to take much more varnish than you'd otherwise expect.

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I've never wanted to paint a stump stool, but it can be done. Again, though—because of the wood's porosityyou'll need several extra coats of the preservative to completely fill the wood.

If you plan to use your new footrest on a hardwood floor, you'll want—at this point—to glue a felt pad to the bottom of the stool to protect your floor's finish. Just trace around the stump on a large piece of felt, cut the pad out, and glue it to the wood. (I've found that Elmer's Carpenter Glue works well.)

An interesting variation on the above theme will result if you cut your stool from a tree with a fork in it. Just make your 30° angled cut immediately below the point where the trunk divides and make the other (perpendicular) cut across the two upper branches. This way, the stool will broaden from floor to footrest, and the top surface will have a wonderfully abstract shape.

Now. Grab that book you've been meaning to read, settle back in your favorite chair, put your feet up on your new stump stool, and ask yourself: Now wasn't that worth the effort?

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  • Ted Frumkin 10/2/2008 2:08:16 PM

    Try cutting legs into the piece.
    Can be seen at :
    www.around-the-bend.com

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