This project was very special to me, as I started it together with my Father. We don't get together much, as it is 1200 miles back home, so I really treasured the time we got to spend working on it during a recent visit. He is the one who got me started woodworking, and I always enjoyed building things with Dad! Sort of a true life cat's in the craddle story, as my Dad moved from Sask. to the States just before I was born, and after moving away to University and then Graduate school, I moved up to Edmonton. Very grateful for the time to spend on this project! I just shipped this on Friday, as this will serve as my parents Christmas present this year.

First, we went and selected the wood. Dad really likes using quarter sawn oak (mostly red), and I had never used it before (I like cherry, walnut, mahogany, and just about anything else!). They only had QSWO in stock that day, so we sorted through a pallet to find the widest and most figured boards. We brought home 5 nice 7-8" wide boards, which is enough to make about four of these projects, but I can never leave the lumberyard with less than 3x the intended amount of lumber .

Then, we cut the boards apart and flattened a face and then thicknessed them. That was about all the time we had (the visit was for a few days, and was jam-packed as it was).

I then proceeded to do the rest myself: completing the hand-cut dovetails in white oak was tough. If you are going to try HCDTs, please don't use QSWO as your first project!!

I decide that I wanted a very genuine finish, and I HATE staining things, so I picked up some 30% aqueous ammonia and fumed it (I am a chemist, so no problem dealing with safety issues, plus I got to combine two of my passions: chemistry and woodworking!). It was fumed for ~5 hours (I removed test pieces every hour to monitor colour), and after putting on two coats of BLO and many many coats of blonde shellac, the colour was exactly what I had in my head! One of the most satisfying finishes I've done!

Although this stool is far from perfect (There are some gaps in the dovetails that I know I can do better on, but this wood is just so hard), I really am happy with how this turned out!

I really like the finish, and I was able to get a perfect alignment of a light stripe that runs along the left side and then continues on the top step! We planned out the layout so that the grain on the single board we used for the all the sides and steps would line up, and this one paid off for all the effort!

I have made three steps stools now, and I really really like this project! As always, not once piece of sandpaper was harmed in making this stool (hand planes for smoothing). Anyway, thanks for reading and looking, and certainly any comments welcome!

I have included pictures of the step stool just after fuming (before the finish), and a group photo of my step stools in cherry, curly birch, and QSWO.

I have to thank Tommy for providing inspiration for this project and getting me to think about grain alignment! Really enjoying the show- keep it up!!

AJ.. Where have you been hiding. Great job and congratulations on the Triplets!!!.

Now, go build the tool box. It's fun too.

Bruce

Thanks! I mostly lurk, as this is my hobby, and time is sparse.

Next on my list is a queen size bed. I have all the cherry and everything is just about ready for me to lay out and begin cutting. I'll definitely post this on here when I get it done.

AJB

AJ.
Thanks for your response. Hearing that you will be building a cherry bed, may I suggest that you chronicle it in our Play by Play section? Having members who do quality work and post the progress, helps us all and inspires many.

Bruce

Sweet step stool! I'm not usually fond of oak, but the grains in the steps are awesome. I agree with Bruce, try the toolbox next, probably not in oak though.