Original and Copy

[Tailmaker]

I have owned a simple stepstool for some 50 years that I got from a relative who used to be a village cartwright/carpenter back then in Germany. It is European white oak and only made by hand tools like chisel, saw, plane and draw knife.
Although I used and abused it all the years (mostly in my shop), it is still as solid as new. The wedged-in legs are tight in spite of moving to several different climate zones. Unfortunately it is not as pretty anymore and so I set out to make a (slightly improved) copy from cherry on the CNC. This makes extensive use of the moulding toolpath for the radius bevels of the legs and the radius and chamfer of the seat top.

Here the original:

And my copy:

Components:

Legs are fitted in mortises, glued and expanded with wedge-shaped dowels:

[jay pieper]

This is a homerun , I really like the simple style of the remake of the
original. Back in the day it was all about function, and good joinery.
you hit that one out of the park very nice job thank you for posting

[WNC_Ed]

Absolutely spectacular!
Congrats

[vip-klaus]

Excellent work. Please keep us up to date for the next 50 years so that we can see if the copy is as solid as the original.

[scottp55]

LIKING it G. !!
And with Cherry...It'll only get better:)
Congrats on the design remake!
scott

[Tailmaker]

Thanks guys...
If somebody wants to give it a try, the files and some instructions are here.
This is a rather easy and quick 2-sided project and can be done on smaller machines.

Excellent work. Please keep us up to date for the next 50 years so that we can see if the copy is as solid as the original.

O.K., I will give an update every 5 years and write that also in my will.

[scottp55]

Saved!!
That was awful nice of you Tailmaker....but I see there's a method to your madness!
Thanks!
scott

[Tailmaker]

These stepstools...you can leave them alone or they will multiply like rabbits! Now I have a herd.

For that I scaled the design of my stepstool 40% down to toddler size (this is my contribution to this year's toy drive). Might be nice for the kids to sit or reach things they are normally too short for. And I find they look kind of cute.
Most of them are made from donated 3/4" red oak cutoff and one made from alder. I carved the warning about "Children Only" and "max. 100 lbs" given our litigious society.

[scottp55]

You're right G.!
They are kinda cute(especially arranged like that:)
Too bad the family will be broken up, even if for such a great cause!
MUCH more useful than a toy...longer lasting to and I'm sure some lifelong attachments will be made!
You even included a cute runt/ugly duckling of the litter
I'm sure somebody with some animation skills could make a good little movie clip from them:)
WELL DONE G. !!
scott

[mikeacg]

Very nice, simple design! Thanks for sharing the files! I am interested to see how you set it up...

Mike

[Tailmaker]

.... I am interested to see how you set it up...Mike

Do you mean how I set this up on the CNC? Work holding method etc.?

If so, that was more or less standard technique for double sided work with unsymmetric alignment dowels for the big version. The boards were held with corner screws on the spoilboard.
for the legs I used sturdy tabs at the ends and for the seat surface I screwed the seat plate also down through the dowel holes so that I did not need tabs for the final cutout. But this was a single piece and I did not mind the bit changes.

For the set of 6 mini stepstools I did not like the dozens of tool changes and screw down. For that I made a "vacuum fixture" (a.k.a. a few weatherstrips on the spoilboard) with alignment dowels for the top as well as for the bottom side so that I could swap the 6 blanks in precise position and make all cuts with a bit before switching to the next bit. It was precise enough so that I did not have to re-zero the bit after each blank swap.

I still have the bottom fixture on the machine so I took a picture. A bit primitive but it works well for a small series production. The vacuum is drawn through the small 1/4" hole in the spoilboard (hard to see in the picture).
I had to cordon off the center handle hole and the dowel holes as to not lose vacuum when these features and the leg mortises are cut through for the bottom side.

[Bobtail Farm]

thank you.