I know; I haven't even finished the toy box and I'm starting a new project. Well,
this is only four pieces of wood, and I thought maybe Claire and I could do it together.
Progress report:
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November 13, 2000: I was out sick, so I picked up a 3-foot piece of 1x12 oak at Home
Depot ($17). I used the table saw to cut the top, the sides, and a stretcher.
I thought of using screws to put it all together, so Claire and I could do the
drilling/screwing, but that doesn't seem as stable and aesthetically pleasing as other
options.
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November 14, 2000: This month's American Woodworker magazine had a review of dovetail
jigs. That would be a nice way to put it all together! However, that's another $100,
plus the time for the thing to arrive, plus all that time setting up the router, and I
don;t think I want Claire in the same room as the router (not that she would stick around
with all the noise). Maybe dowels will work - I should have some left over from the
cradle.
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November 15, 2000: Another sick day, so I cut the stretcher down a bit so I could use
dowels. Now for the drilling...
Hopefully this one will be done within a week. I'm more interested in finishing
it than in creating something beautiful; that can be a future project.
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March 27, 2004: Did I say it would take a week? Well, skipping
ahead a bit (hey, I've been busy!), Claire and I actually built the step
stool! I had gotten a Kreg pocket hole jig kit to use on the dining
room table. Claire was helping me with the table, so we made a test
piece to see how the aprons would fit on the legs (Claire did a great job of
sanding the parts- she learned how to do it at camp). When I was
putting the paper cover back on the case, I saw plans for a step stool, and
I just happened to have the pre-cut pieces at my feet (literally!). It
took us about 20 minutes to assemble the table, and we were both pretty
excited about it. I had put it down to just another unfinished
project, with the wood winding up in the scrap pile, but now we have a nice
stool.
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March 28, 2004: Claire wanted to paint the stool white. I picked
up a can of spray paint, but she was so tired that she wound up lying on the
floor looking out the window while I did the painting. I didn't mind,
except that it was a shame to paint the nice oak. Then again, she
wants to paint her name on it and some other pictures as well, which sounds
perfect. However it turns out, I think she'll like it.