Skip to main content

small step up

                    
Throughout history, there has always been a need to reach extra height, and in more recent centuries, to reach areas/objects around the home. We have all grabbed a chair, and used it to stand on to reach something, or to perform a task. Whether it's to reach that stash of cookies, or to clean a window etc. So obviously, standing on a chair isn't ideal, depending on upon its style, it can be bulkie and heavy. Standing on it can damage seat material, even without shoes, and if the chair has a solid wood seat (Welsh stick etc.), shoes are a good idea to stop you slipping but, your going to dirty the chair. So the obvious thing to do, is to get some sort of a dedicated step up. 

Today I see a lot of people with commercial step Ladders, you know the one's, aluminium, when you bang them against something, it scares the birds off, over a mile away. That's not to say there not useful but, the ones I've seen in the past, have been overpriced and look tacky, which may not be the case today. This coupled with my love of all things wood, and the believe that people should be able to build furniture, and accessories for there home, with there own hands, seems only logical (to me) to build a step up. 

                                                         
I think, for me at least, the first thing I think of when I hear "wooden step up" is a shaker step up. This is pretty much where I took the design from. In essence, it's half of the shaker design. I would liked to have made a full shaker step up but, I needed to keep back some of the ash, for a shavehorse attachment, and the extra height isn't needed, although I'm sure sometime in the future, the extra step will be missed.

The step up is a simple functional design, which I believe to be a good piece, for a beginner, or someone transitioning into hand tools, to practice upon. I'm a big believer in making something, that can be used, instead of making a joint then throwing it in the fire pile. Who cares if the joints are gappy and wonky? As long as the piece is functional, and it also marks a starting point, which you can gauge your progress.


                                                           
The two sides of the step up are dovetailed, which are extremely strong on there own. I have talked and blogged about dovetail strength. I have also constructed tables, and chairs with them. I did however add a supporting back rail, which is going to help save guard, against knocks, drops and anything else it may encounter. Since this is for a friend, and there is no intention (and nor should there be), of the piece being treat like a piece of furniture, just because dovetails are present! The back rail is (in my opinion), going to extend the longevity of the piece. That coupled with the ash, and this thing is rock solid. I'd dare say you could drive a car onto the step. I opted for a half lap with a half dovetail, to fix the rail. 

                                                              
The shoulders on the inside of the rail, butt against the two insides of the sides. This helps to stop racking, and the half dovetail helps to stop the joint pulling out, which in turn, keeps the shoulders in contact with the sides.

Below I've I have attached the video build, some other links, and the plans since I'm learning SketchUp! But of course the build is flexible however, what I will say is that, the taller you want to go, the wider the base must be! Happy building.










Comments

  1. Emma Jasmine5 August 2022 at 10:29

    This article you referred to is really helpful. I'm inspired to make one and purchase one after seeing the images you posted. You covered all the essentials keys of high-quality and good quality furnishings. Both the business and the home benefit from having furniture. If anyone want to choose high-quality and long-lasting furniture than it will be beneficial article that you shared. Value office furniture provides high-quality office furniture with best price.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zayden Wood1 March 2024 at 07:36

    I really enjoyed your take on the classic step stool! It's always refreshing to see a handmade piece with character, even if it's intended for more utilitarian purposes. While dovetails are certainly impressive joints, I can see how using woodworking CNC services could be a great option for someone who wants to build a similar stool but is short on time or wants to ensure perfect joint consistency. Especially for the multiple identical cuts needed for the dovetails, CNC could be a real time-saver.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roman workbench perfection?

So as you know (if you follow me on social media), I have just recently built, yet another Roman workbench! Which is starting to become normal practice, just as much as it is me saying "I think this will be the last one I build". Every time I build a bench, I do get closer to the optimal bench, and preferences are becoming crystal clear! I think the most predominant preference has to be the width. I seem to lean towards 15", it just seems like a nice width, for me to sit on and work on. My oak bench is the narrowest bench I have built, which I really don't like because of the width. That's a real shame, considering I like the length, and it has a shavehorse attachment. I would definitely say, I prefer a longer bench to a shorter bench. To date I have explored 4', 5' and 6', with 6' being my favourite. Don't get me wrong, I have built all manner of furniture on the 4' but, the 6' bench rules simply because, I am able to have...
12 comments
Read more

Using the roman workbench

Earlier this year, I read a few articles from the lost press art, about the roman workbench, then again with mortise and tenon magazine, which peaked my interest. I must admit I was impressed, but also sceptical. I mean most of us use a tall bench, with a vise, and only see a chair maker use a similar bench. For this reason, and because we don't know any different, we think we won't be able to carry out, some tasks. I wanted to build one, so that I could use it outside, especially with summer almost here. It appealed to me, with the fact, that I could just pick it up, and carry it outside. Also, the fact that I needed an extra saw horse, pretty much sold it to me. Any one who uses saw horses for sawing with hand saws, on a regular basis will know that, a bench of this size, will make life very easy for this task, because of large amount of surface area. So I built this with the idea that, in the worse case scenario, I had a very good saw bench. So it wasn't a bi...
6 comments
Read more

Exploring joints.

If you were to mention a woodworking joint, to a non woodworker, they would probably know of a joint/have a picture in there head, and think nothing more than the joint, joins two sections of wood together. Of course this is true however, there is a lot more to a joint, then just joining two sections of wood together. This often gets over looked by people, and they do not understand the mechanics of the joint. Which seems a shame, considering that understanding joints, will help you better choose a good joint, on a structure you may be designing, which will ultimately strengthen that structure. I think a lot of people choose a joint, because they know it to be strong, because someone said so, and without question, not fully understanding why they are using it. Take the good old dovetail in drawer construction. The pin portion will always be on the front of the drawer, because of the nature of a dovetail joint. The pins are like a group of wedges, fitting into wedge like gro...
19 comments
Read more