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Public service announcement:
If you're going on a road trip this summer
don't forget to bring an extra
Microjig. Maker of the GRR-RIPPER.
Work safer.Work smarter.
Guess what you can make from a single 2x4?
This cool, sturdy stool with fancy joints.
Cutting this 2x4 down to slightly oversized lengths
will make them a lot easier to manage.
Before I rip these to their final widths,
I need to trim off the rounded over edges of the 2x4s.
I want these to be as wide as they are thick,
so I'll set that on its edge
and move my fence over to size it.
All of the angles and bevels in this project are 15 degrees.
I'll start by cutting the four upright pieces to their lengths.
I've installed a set of dado blades in my tablesaw
that will make cutting the half-laps go a lot faster.
If you don't have any dado blades,
you can do the same thing,
just by making multiple passes with your regular blade.
As soon as I've got that to the width of another board,
I can set my fence to stop at that location.
I should point out that I would never use the fence like that
as a stop if I was going to cut
all the way through the wood.
That could pinch this piece and cause kickback.
But since this is only going through half of the board,
it's safe.
When cutting the angles for the horizontal pieces,
you just want to make sure the angles are
opposite of each other, not parallel
like they are with the upright pieces.
I've got my dado stack back in place
and I've got the fence back where it was before.
I'm going to cut the notches on these bottom pieces
a little differently. They get a notch on one side,
then I'll flip it over and do a notch on the opposite side.
And I'll cut out these little top supports
and cut their half-laps.
I'll set my miter gauge back to zero.
And I'll cut a notch in each of these bottom cross braces.
Now I can glue together the two sides.
The way these interlock creates really strong joints.
I'll square up one edge of the remainder
of my 2x4 board.
I just resawed this board into two pieces.
Unfortunately, that was the first time my camera
has ever stopped working right in the
middle of an important shot.
So let me just recreate what I did.
First of all, I set up a featherboard on my tablesaw
to keep the 2x4 pressed against the fence.
Then I took the board and I ran it on its edge
through the saw...my dull saw...
and pushed pushed pushed all the way
to about here.
Then i was able to grab a couple of push sticks
and push it all the way through.
With my dado stack back in place,
I've set up a sacrificial board on my fence
that the blades can cut into.
Now I can move my fence over
just a little at a time and keep testing it
until this board I cut fits into those notches flush.
The top boards will be easier to cut to size
once I glue this cross brace in place.
Now I can cut this board into three
equal length pieces for the top.
To make the edge bevel on the two outside boards,
I'll tip my blade 15 degrees.
I can glue these two boards into place
and then cut the center board to size.
I'm drilling a finger hole to make it a little easier
to carry around.
I'll give this a little bit of protection
by applying a couple coats of Danish Oil.
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Of course I'm going to give it a strength test!
Aww..now it's all dirty.
By the way, the first person to make the tired
stool sample joke will be asked to leave the room.
Bet you didn't know you could make that with a 2x4.
By the way, this isn't the first stool I've made.
I assembled the other ones in a playlist,
including this favorite:
Don't forget to check down below
for a free set of plans to build your own.
And please visit the
ForMereMortals.net
where you can post pictures of your own projects
and view tons of projects that other people have made
and download lots and lots of free plans.