Eight-legged Stools
Every one has a story.

First Stool

I began work on this stool in March 2010. I t was still too cold in my garage/workshop spend much time so I did most of the sanding and finish work at a friend's HEATED wood-shop.

The first stool was a protype - proof of concept - and I made it out of an old pine board that I had laying around (actually it was the sides of an old waterbed.)

Bottom view

The pine board was a 2X8 which I sawed down to 7 inches (plus).

Glue two of these together to make a 14 X 14 inch piece (blank) for the top.

Build a simple fixture to cut the eight-sided top.

Build a simple taper fixture to cut the tapered legs.

Build a fixture to attach the trapezoid pieces to each leg.

It all went together fine but the legs were a nightmare to glue together and screw into the top. How do you hold everything straight and even while I clamped it together for gluing?

Leg

For many years I had been admiring the 8-legged stools that my brother had designed and built. On one of our visits I mentioned that I'd like to have one of these stools. He laughed and said that he'd built enough of them and that I should make one for myself. I asked him for some plans and he gave me this leg and told me that this was all I needed to know. It took a couple years for me to realize that he was right.

Leg - another view

Here's another view showing the screws that hold the leg to the support piece.

And the challenge begins...