This is one of my favorite sitting/learning/teaching projects and it was featured on the cover of the final issue of the now defunct “Woodworking” magazine. It’s a strong, sturdy and useful stool, and the layout information in the video will enable you to build a similar stool at any height (this one is 20″ from the floor to the top of the seat).

If all of your woodworking has consisted on right angles, this project will stretch your skills and problem solving abilities. The joints are all wedged, through mortises and tenons. While this isn’t a guaranteed cure for perfectionism, it’s an effective treatment as there needs to be a bit of wiggle room for the pieces to go together. There are also times when you need to make a leap of faith and trust your layout work — the only references are an imaginary plumb line from the center of the seat and a couple of circles drawn on a piece of plywood.

This video was filmed in 2014 as a class in the shop at my then day job at Popular Woodworking Magazine. The students ask questions (good ones, too) and keep me on my toes. It’s much more like taking a class than the typical “explain it to the camera” woodworking video. It’s a worthy project and a pretty good video.

I left Popular Woodworking in 2014 and products published by them are no longer available on my website.