Kitchen Step Stool - Reader's Gallery - Fine Woodworking

The green cork floor goes well with cherry.

I glued the braces in at the same time as everything else. I used 1 hour epoxy, so there was plenty of time to clamp and adjust things and get everything square.

Hazken writes: I think your design is great. I especially liked the fact that the two side panels can be cut from the same piece by spooning them front to front. I do have a question, did you glue the supports in at the assembly of the stool or did you manage to slip them in after the stool had set? Since there is no dado or dowels, this could be tricky either way. I am doing the final sanding and then it's glue time. Nice job.

Posted: 3:51 pm on August 8th

carmyk writes: OK, this site needs an alert feature to inform me when people comment. I suppose it will be several months, if ever, before any of you notice this reply.

Thanks for your interest!

The ceilings are nine feet but the top of the upper cabinets is about eight feet. Still high by normal standards, but not ridiculous.

I drew the shape freehand on the wood, so there is no pattern. The overall width is 19 inches, to fit the space where it is stored in my kitchen. Overall height is 30 inches and the top of the steps are 7 and 14 inches. The steps are in dadoes, and the braces underneath are just glued in place. The dadoes are not as deep as they appear from the front - I left an overhang to hide the glue lines.

The back sits flat against the wall and the handle needs to be forward, so that you can get your fingers around it, and for balance when it is carried. The bottoms of the feet are angled just slightly to bring the weight bearing part forward. This is for stability when you are standing on the stool, as your weight is to the front of the steps.

That's about it.

Cheers.

Posted: 12:25 pm on June 4th