Julie Stool

PROJECT: Low Stool

COURSE: Furniture 3 - Linear Constructions

DATE: fall 2023

MATERIALS: solid white oak, sheet cane

DIMENSIONS: 17 3/4” tall, and 17 5/8” in diameter

SURFACE TREATMENT: raw-tinted plant-based wax-oil

EXHIBITION: Sheridan Craft and Design Open House 2023

BRIEF

Design a low stool that consists almost completely of linear parts, with a seat that must be formed with a linear weaving material. The stool must designed for a client and their site.

INTENT

My goal was to create a stool for a client who was 5' 4", 185 lbs. The client's site was a small bedroom with neutral colors (such as cream or off-white), a modern aesthetic, and hard floors.

My ideation sketches for the stool had led me to shapes similar to the tapered protrusions commonly seen on Japanese mech designs, and the wings and exit nozzles of engines on fighter jets. Leaning into that idea, I shaped the legs to be tapered and flattened. I favored a round seat to allow the user to pivot, and three legs for stability on hard floors.

Ideation sketches.

Digital model made in Fusion 360.

1:4 scale model.

Testing the build procedures of a leg.

Bent lamination of a section of the seat.

Building a jig for mortising.

Another jig for mortising.

I spent more time making jigs and forms than I did shaping wood. But those jigs and forms only needed to be made once, and can be used over and over again for batch production.

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