The Making of the Step Stool!

I made this for my niece and nephew for Christmas 2005. It was a fun little project, as most of mine are, but making it more special was it was for family (yet again). I made this out of sold Oak, even the dowel, and of course the scrolling of the name. Enjoy the pics, click on the thumbnails to get a larger picture!

The first thing that needed to be done, as with all the wood projects that I scroll, is to develop the pattern for the names on the computer, print them out, glue them to the wood to be cut out. As you can see, I cut out two identical pieces of wood for the names, and a slightly smaller piece of wood for the middle. I Drilled the pilot holes for the scroll saw blade and scrolled out the names!

The next step was to cut out the sides and router the outer edge. I then drilled countersink holes on the outside of the sides for attaching the dowels and covering with the wood plugs. Attached the dowels to both sides, put the plugs in with a little weldwood glue, and that half is done!

I then took the previously cut top and glued them together, again using weldwood, for a solid top vice a "slatted" top with voids. I thought it might be a little more stable for the young kids to stand on. I then attached two blocks to the top of the sides to hold on the top, hence, having no other holes in the sides or top to plug.

The final step was to attach the top and that was it! I left the step stool unfinished to let them do what they wanted to do with it. I figure that the kids could decorate it as they saw fit!