Steps to create a traditional Waldorf three-legged stool.

Materials

1. Wood for laminated seat, such as 3 to 4 pieces of 2x4, up to 18" in length. Can contain large knots or other variations that can add character and interest to the piece. Douglas Fir, Redwood, and any other soft wood work well.
    
2. Wood for legs, such as 2 pieces of straight grained 2x4 about 18" long, that can split cleanly down the middle. Wood should not contain large knots or other flaws that could weaken the stability of the legs.
    
3. Wood for wedges, such as walnut or oak. Wedges should be relatively hard with straight grain that can withstand a little pounding. Typically, we choose dark wedge wood for light colored stools, and light wedge wood for dark stools

Tools and Supplies

1. Workbench
2. Ear and eye protection
3. Handsaw
4. Coping saw
5. Back saw
6. Wood splitting wedge and metal mallet
7. Various gouges and wooden mallet
8. Various rasps
9. 3-5 clamps
10. Wood glue
11. Hand plane
12. Scrapers
13. Sandpaper and sanding blocks
14. Finishing oil
     

Procedures

Creating the stool top

1. Choose 3 or 4 pieces of 2x4 that look good together. Decide which sides will face up. Consider alternating grain direction for added strength. Consider mixing wood types and colors for added interest. Consider how best to distribute knots to add interest to the design. Avoid placing knots near leg joint locations.
2. Lay the pieces on your workbench and arrange them as you would like the top to look. Clamp them lightly together and draw the design onto the top. To make it easier to accurately realign the pieces later, draw some cross marks across the joints on the bottom surface.
3. Carefully measure and mark where the legs will go. For a stable stool, the leg joints must be very evenly spaced. The leg joints for a typical three-legged stool are arranged in a perfect triangle (all sides and angles of equal length). To avoid possible stool failure, ensure there is at least 1" of wood between each leg and the sides of the stool. Ensure that no knots or other flaws are close to where the legs attach to the top. Check both sides for potential problems--top and bottom!
4. Unclamp the top and carefully smooth each glue surface. Use a good straightedge and check for daylight between each joint.
   
5. Once all edges are straight, clean and smooth, glue them together, ensuring they are arranged according to your original design. To save time later, check that the stool top is as smooth as possible. Clamp the seat and set aside for about 20 minutes. When using very porous wood, such as redwood, avoid wiping off extra glue that squeezes out as this can make it much more difficult to sand later.
6. After 20 minutes, the extra glue will be leathery. It is very easy to remove that this point. Simply scrape it off. The small amount that remains can be easily sanded later.
7. Leave the clamps on and set the top aside to dry overnight.
8. Using handsaws, gouges, etc., cut the outside shape (or perimeter) of the seat, and carve the outside bevel.
9. Finetune the shape as required for your design.
10. Sand all surfaces, working up from 80 grit to 100 grit, to 150 grit. For most students 150 grit is enough. For a very fine surface, motivated students can continue on to 250 and 320 grit.

Why laminate the seat?

There are several reasons. First, large wood is increasingly expensive and difficult to find. Unfortunately, careless human harvesting of ancient forests has destroyed most of the world's great trees. Second, laminated tops are often stronger than those carved from a single piece of wood. This is because natural flaws in the wood are distributed randomly among the different pieces of laminated wood. A single piece of wood is more likely to contain a flaw (knot, split, etc.) that goes from one side of the stool to the other.
 

Drilling the leg mortises

Note: We use two types of mortise and tenon joints. Neither method is better; there are pros and cons to each. The choice of which joint to use depends on your stool's design and any structural issues that may call for a particular joint type. Which ever joint type you choose should be used for all leg joints.

• A through mortise and tenon joint goes all the way through the stool seat and shows on the top once the stool is finished.
   
• A stub mortise and tenon joint goes part way through the seat and does not show on the top.
  
  
  

If you are using a through mortise and tenon joint, mark the leg joint locations on the top surface of the seat and drill from the top. If you are using a stub mortise and tenon joint, mark and drill the leg joint positions on the bottom of the seat. In each case, carefully re-measure the leg positions and mark the origin and circumference for each joint.
 

Check both sides again to be sure no knots or other flaws will adversely effect the stool's design and stability. For example, you should not join a leg into a large knot as the knot could come lose in time causing the leg to fall out.
 

Carefully drill each mortise in the seat, adjusting for angle of each leg. Note that for added stability, legs are often angled slightly away from the center of the stool, thus providing a wider footprint. Legs can also go straight down, but they should never be angled toward the center of the seat.
 

Three leg stool with through mortise and tenon joints.	Four leg stool with stub mortise and tenon joints.