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Sunday, April 5, 2020

Quarantine Wargaming Wood Working Project: Barstools


 On Saturday, I decided to start a wood working project to build a set of bar stools for the club.  The ones we have now are a bit on the rickety side.  While I love precariously balancing on a wooden stool as much as the next guy, it can be a bit distracting from the rigors of miniature wargaming. 

Therefore we have a need for some sturdier posterior support devices.  As you can see from the picture, I practice woodworking in a socially distant and safe way.  Actually, I have no idea if the face mask is at the N-95 level but it is rated for organics and does a nice job of keeping sawdust out of my lungs.  Plus I look very dashing, so what's not to love? 

I know all of you now have "Right Said Fred" playing on loop in your minds right now.  You're welcome, by the way.

This initial version will look a little "kludgy" as I'm just using the wood in the shop (which is popular, by the way).  My wife is a healthcare professional and involved in this fight so we do take the social distancing stuff very seriously and I'm trying to limit external trips. and deliveries to just the essentials. 

The design I chose is a bit short on appearance but very long on function - just like my miniature painting.  The stool will be 30 inches high and the legs will use lap joints and the pegs to ensure nothing comes loose over time.  Heres a shot with all the lap joints cut.  It was a little confusing figuring out where to cut the gaps on the legs so everything went together right....
Test fitting the legs to see if everything fits.  It did, yeah me!  OK, that was a lie, as the first test fitting proved I am an idiot and cut one of the upper leg slots on the wrong face - Dooooh!!!!!
I cut a plug and glued in place and then recut the gap.  I'll make sure to show it on a future update.

SInce we're being honest here, I also messed up the layout on my table saw for the upper aprons in the picture - I forgot to account for the saw blade width and cut the gap 1/8 inch to wide.  The solution was to re-cut the two upper aprons to match the wider gap. 

Glueing the aprons in place and making sure everything is nice and square.  The legs form a 12 inch square.

Clamps - does anyone really have enough of them?

Lastly, the panel glue up for the seat.  It was only 55F today so the glue is taking a long time to set so I stopped here to let it cure over night.  Oh. 55F is either -12C or 12,315C - I can never figure that out.

The final seat will be 14 inches square, which will give it a nice 1" overhang all around.

Assuming the prototype meets the ascetic criteria for the club (which are very demanding), I'll bang out four more.  That will require me to get some more wood.  It's for the club, so has to be certified as "essential"

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