Simple Piano Stool With Storage

A simple and fun project to build a sturdy and useful piano bench for you and your family to play in style. Made from easy to find softwood pieces, this project will save you good money.

Tools

• Cordless drill
• Glue
• Sandpaper
• Brushes
• Saw
• Chisel

Materials

• 4 planed softwood 40x40x450 (mm) for the legs
• 2 planed softwood 150x17x370 (mm) for front and back
• 2 planed softwood 150x17x170 (mm) for the sides
• 1 planed softwood 300x20x500 (mm) for the seat
• 2 hinges with screws
• Wood screws (40mm)
• Black paint

For this project, I used three different types of wood boards all bought from my local hardware shop and ready to use.

For the legs, I used a 40x40x2800 timber that I cut into 4 pieces of 460 mm.

The sides were cut from a 150x17x2800 board cut into two lengths: 370 mm (front and back) and 170mm (both sides)

The seat was cut from a 300x20x2800 board to create the 300x500 top seat.

To firmly attach the legs to each side panel I decided to use two screws to ensure it is sturdy and secure.

Because the leg is quite thick (4cm) it would require a long screw, so I decided to make a 4mm hole, 1cm deep, first to allow my screws to reach the other side. On each leg, drill a couple of holes exactly in the middle of the top section of the leg with a 4mm drill-bit, then with a 2mm just to guide the screw.

Since each leg is attached to two sides, you have to avoid drilling all holes at the same height otherwise one hole from one side will meet another, as shown in the picture.

To be able to add hinges, the back wood panel must be attached to the edge of the leg, as shown in red on the last image. Don't forget to consider this when drilling the holes.

Now that you have all pieces ready to assemble, pick a leg and side panel, add glue and screw two screws on each leg at a time allowing the glue to dry completely before moving to the other side. I usually add glue, screw and clamp it for a good hour.

Once the structure is complete you can start working on the seat hinges.

To add the hinges, you will need to carve a small section off the upper side of the back panel since the hinges are around 4mm in height. I did this by sawing this area several times using a fine blade and then removing using a chisel.

Finally, for the bottom panel of the compartment, you can use a thin wood sheet and cut as image 3 which can be easily fixed with a few nails and glue.

Before sanding and painting, you need to fill the leg's holes with any wood filler.

After the filler dries, it is time to completely sand all surface with fine sandpaper (240) and start applying the paint. I've applied two coats of paint on the seat only with a very gently sanding between coats to make it smoother.

Once the paint is dry, the final step is to screw the hinges to the seat as shown in the pictures, taking care to align the hinges exactly with the wood to avoid any misalignment between the two hinges which could affect the movement.

Done! Now it's time to test the stool by playing your favourite piano concerto.