I have a granddaughter having her 3rd birthday soon.  My wife suggested that I build her a step stool for her family’s bathroom.  I built a mock-up from 5/8” plywood and then used repurposed walnut and maple to craft the step stool.  A friend of mine did the CNC work from my sketch-up design.  The letters are setting 1/16” proud and the geometric elephant is setting at multiple levels.   A coat of BLO and a few coats of rattle can lacquer were used for finish.  Thanks for looking.

Danl

 

 

 

 

 

Well done sir!! Excellent. Great touch using maple plugs in the walnut. I suspect Charlotte will be mighty proud of her new step as well that papaw made it for her.

Fabulous step stool @Danl!  Looks like she really likes it. 

She's a cutie!  The step stool looks great too.. 

Wow, that's gorgeous! I want one for my kitchen!

 

 

I'm loving it, nicely done!

Excellent! She'll treasure that forever.

That is a piece of art for her Danl!

An awesome stool for a real beauty. And she is so proud of her independence. Great job.

Nicely done, my grandson and I built one when he was about that age.

 

He now he has one about that age.

Not a criticism, just a question.   I have built some like that but ran the grain vertically on the uprights.  I'm wondering what the pros and cons are.

 

I also built one that works as a stool or a step from a very old pattern that does have horizontal grain.

 

JMHO but, I think vertical would be less prone to crack under pressure. 

Great piece and definitely a heirloom. I had the same thoughts on grain, although on a small piece it may not make any difference. The wood movement is the only consideration and the way this is built reduces that problem . I think the reason we noticed it is the fact that cabinets use vertical grain and we get into that mindset that all grain should vertical. IMHO

A tree trunk's grain is fairly vertical. I ain't gonna argue with Mother Nature. 

Nice looking Step stool.

She will have memories for many years of grandpa making her that step stool!!

Well done!!

I was totally aware of grain direction when I concepted the design.  There are times when I have little invested that I want to experiment, which is the case for this stool.  I thought that the horizontal lines would be more fitting for my granddaughter's home (the pic of the mock-up is not her home).  I chose to use #8 x 1-1/2" trim screws concealed with 1/4" dowel plugs.  So, no glue used for the joinery.  My biggest concern was racking, but I know I had (20) screws working to help prevent that situation.  If all of this cracks, my financial loss is only the screws.  Yes, I will be disappointed and will know never to do that again.    Danl

Looks pretty doggone sturdy to me, I don't think you have anything to worry about

1 hour ago, Cal said:

Looks pretty doggone sturdy to me, I don't think you have anything to worry about

+1