Monday, December 1, 2008

Featured Project - Step Stool

This solid oak and mahogany stool was a Father's Day gift for my Dad.
It's through wedged mortise and tenon joints make it stronger than nails.
The grain patterns were carefully selected to showcase the difference between quartersawn and riftsawn wood on the top and the flatsawn stock on the legs and stretchers.

To avoid splitting the wood as the wedges are driven, the wedges were driven perpendicular to the grain direction.

The stretchers are joined to the legs with a twin tenon, reinforced again with wedges made form mahogany.

There are absolutely NO screws holding this piece together, yet I am confident that it will be standing for decades to come.

The rubbed oil finish of this piece emphasizes the beauty that lies within the solid wood. It is a feeling that cannot be conveyed with plywood or other engineered materials. The colors in this piece will become more variegated with time, since the finish also allows the wood to age naturally.

David J. Ulschmid
~ Wisp Woods ~

To order a reproduction of this piece for your home, contact me at wispwoods@gmail.com. You too can have an heirloom quality stool that will last generations. Call for prices and wood preferences.

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