Blue Stool

This stool was my first ever welding project. It was made almost entirely out of scrap materials.

I started with a couple 2x10 cutoffs from my Red Bench project. I glued them together to double the thickness, then drew a bar stool seat shape and cut it out with my band saw.

I'd seen this technique before and wanted to try it myself. I used a rough grit flap disc on my angle grinder to carve the contours of the seat.

To darken it, I applied a coat of Steel Wool and Vinegar stain. To seal it, I applied several thin layers of spar urethane, making sure to lightly sand with 400 grit between coats.

I wanted to try welding legs and a base for my seat, so I visited my parents so I could pick my dad's brain and use his welder. After practicing on a scrap piece of steel for a while, I welded this base.

The legs were made out of these steel spikes he had laying around. I believe they are used for pouring concrete foundations. I used a belt sander to round over the point, and remove the black paint.

I used a piece of plywood and what little high school geometry I've retained to make a jig to evenly space the legs, before tacking them together at the top.

I welded them to the base plate, then used 1/2" round stock to add stretchers between the legs.

After cleaning up the legs with a flap disc and removing any oils with rubbing alcohol, I spray painted them. I kept adding thin coats until I had used up the whole can.

I screwed the legs to the seat and we were done!

Over time I've started to have issues with the layers of the seat separating. I had hoped the spar urethane would protect it from changes in humidity, but it didn't. If I were keeping it inside, it'd probably be fine. I ended up zipping in some screws from the bottom of the seat, and that seems to have kept it from getting any worse.

View this project on Instagram.

This project was completed April 25, 2018.