How to Build a Stump Stool

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on November 1, 1977
article image
Photo By Fotolia/Malbert
You can learn how to build a stump stool with these helpful tips.

Learn how to build a stump stool out of a natural log from the forest.

How to Build a Stump Stool

You’ve probably seen a tree trunk-type footrest before, in which case you don’t need me to tell you what a stump stool is. Until you’ve actually owned one of these dandy foot supports yourself, however, you won’t appreciate how aesthetic and functional an addition to your living room one or two of the leg rests can be.

Stump stools are eye-catching . . . fun to manipulate with your feet (they can do for your feet what a worry stone does for the hands) . . . and — best of all — easy to make. A bucksaw and a rasp are all the tools you’ll need to make a stump stool, and the raw material costs you nothing except a walk in the forest.

When I’m scouring the woods for stool material, I look for dead trees that have been weathered clean of their bark. Their weather-stripped trunks are usually a delightful shade of gray or brown and (because they’re so dry) very light and strong. A tree with a diameter of 9 inches to 18 inches will do just fine.

If you can, try to find one of the weathered trunks that’s blown part of the way over, but still isn’t touching the ground. (Trees that have come in contact with the earth are usually rotted out, or beginning to rot.) A tree that lists is easier to fell with a bucksaw than one that stands straight up.

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