A step stool for my grandson

[Doug B]

I have not made it into the flatwork portion of the forum very much, but I had a request from my son for his son, my grandson. My 2 year old grandson is doing very well at his "potty training", but my son wants him to "pee like a man" so he wanted a small step stool to help that happen.

Heck, that is right up my alley! So, even on a late request I had no problems saying I could get it done in time for Christmas. Well, I finally got it done today and thought I should share it with my WoW friends.

I have been wanting to use a through tenon with a wedge ever since I first saw one many moons ago. And this was the perfect time to give it a try. This is a very simple design utilizing just 3 pieces of 8/4 Furniture Grade Pine and there are no fasteners or glue at all - 100% wood and nothing more.

Even so, it took me about 5 hours today to make a template for the end pieces and then make the stool. LOML and I got the design pretty much done the night before.

First pic shows the knock down stool put together before putting any finish on it.



And now a pic showing the pieces dis-assembled.


And, finally, here is a pic after a single coat of sanding sealer. I don't know if my son wants to paint it or stain and poly it, so I just put a coat of Zinsser sanding sealer on it to protect the wood and he can put whatever finish he wants to on it.


<edit in> Oops, I meant to include the dimensions...basically it is 13" tall by 14" wide by 12" deep. The step is 8" from the floor.

[deepsplinter]

Looks good, Doug.

Otta do the trick.

Aren't grandkids a pain.

[sachbvn]

Very cool - I like those pegs!


Zac

[Doug B]

Thanks guys.

Yeah Dave, grandkids are great! I can't wait to give it to him today and see how he reacts to it. My wife and I both think he is going to use it as a chair.

[Joe Lyddon]

Very COOL!

Looks like that will last a Lifetime... to even handle a 300lb man! ;D ;D

Looks like you cut the ends 1/2 at a time (four pieces) and glued them together after cutting for the circle & mortices?? Clever!

Great design too!

Simple is best!

[Doug B]

Thanks Joe! I had to go look at the pictures to see why you thought the sides were glue ups. Ha! there is a dark grain line right in the middle of the piece that I never even thought twice about.

I appreciate the compliment, but I guess I'm really not that clever and the sides were both made from a 2x12 rough lumber Pine board I've had around for a while. The hand holes are made using a 3" forstner type bit I inherited. I don't know a thing about it except that it cuts like a dream.

And my grandson liked the step stool and used it several times today. The only problem was he used the step stool for the first time. He apparently never had to differentiate between number one and number two when sitting on the toilet, and he let loose with both at the same time. His mother was not amused...but his father and I both were ;D I think he learned pretty quickly that for some things he is still going to have to sit down.

He likes stepping up on the stool and sitting on it too, and the hand hold holes work very well for him to be able to pick it up easily and carry it around. I should have made the sides taller because he likes to use them when stepping back off the stool and they are really not tall enough for that.

Here is a picture from this morning.

[Joe Lyddon]

ROFALMAO !!! ;D ;D ;D

Priceless!

[Stretch]

That's a great stool Doug, but I'm sitting here trying to wrap my mind around how you made that thing on your lathe.

[Doug B]

Hehehe. It was not easy Stretch ;D

Heck I'm just glad my jointer and planer still worked after I cleared all the turning supplies off them

[maverick31]

great stool, doug. I have a 3 yr old son that has a plastic stool that is really a piece of, well you know what. I have been wanting to build him one just have not had the time to do it yet. Did you guys put anything on the bottom of it to keep it from sliding accross the tile in the bathroom when he is standing on it?

great pic of your grandson by the way.

[deepsplinter]

Here's the one I made for my 3yo grandson.

I've been making these things for years. We still have the one I made for his mother (somewhere).

[Joe Lyddon]

COOL!

[Doug B]

Thanks Clay. No. I did not put anything on the bottom, but it would not be hard to do. I think it is heavy enough and/or wide enough that there was no issue with it sliding.

Dave, that is a great design - I like it a lot.

I probably should have painted the one I made too, but I just could not make myself paint that wood, even though it is just pine. I am worried that a poly finish will be too slippery for socks and I did not want to cover up the wood step with non-slip material, so I just left it up to my son to figure out what he wants to do with it. I gave it a single coat of sanding sealer to keep it from getting stained, so pretty much anything can be put over the top of that.

[deepsplinter]

I would have just put some kinda clear on it and called it good, but he wanted it painted gween, cause it's his favwit color.

I put some rubber bumpers on the bottom (like you put on cabinet doors)