Come learn to make a three legged milking, or low, stool using staked joinery! This little stool is super convenient to have around the house or workshop as a low seating option, or makes a lovely plant stand.

The stool in the photo was made by George Sawyer, and we'll have the chance to reproduce that design or play with spindle turnings and seat shapes of our own!

What You'll Learn

In this class we will be making all our parts on the lathe; spindle turning our legs then faceplate turning the seats. It's a good way to get an introduction to turning and the tapered round joinery of staked furniture.

Tools Used

Lathe with parting tool, spindle gouge, skew, faceplate, and bowl gouge
A tapered reamer and matching tapered tenon cutter
Drill press for machine reaming, hand drills, bevel gauges and squares for reaming by eye
Assembly Bench Drying “kiln” for the tenons on legs

Skill Level & Prerequisites

Beginner to Expert

This class is suitable for beginners or experts, if you have lots of experience with Windsor joinery you might not need much instruction, but we’ll have a good time anyway!

Schedule

This class consists of two days of approximately 7 hours each, starting at 9:30 AM and ending each day at approximately 5 PM with a 1/2 hr (or so) break for lunch.

Day 1: Will be spent on spindle turning, with an in depth introduction to the lathe and three basic tools; the parting tool, gouge, and skew. As folks finish turning their legs they will move on to seats, which will be made on the faceplate of the lathe, using a bowl gouge.

Day 2: Will start up with any work left to do on the seats, then we will move onto drilling and reaming conical mortises in the seats. We’ll cut tenons on our legs to match, and glue and wedge them into the seats! Trimming is the final step, and we can do an introduction to milk paint if there’s time and interest.

Safety

PPE: We provide safety glasses, hearing protection, and dust masks if requested. Safety glasses are required in the shop at all times. Face shields are required and will be provided for turning classes.

Dress: We’re probably going to get a little dusty! Make sure to wear sturdy, closed-toed shoes. Avoid loose clothing and jewelry. Anything that may get caught in machinery, like long hair, must be tied back and secured.

Accommodations: While we’ll be moving about the shop for most of our time together, we aim to make the craft as accessible as possible for everyone. Please reach out if you have any questions about our space or may need accommodations of any kind.

What to Bring

If you have a favorite tape measure or pencil, bring it along. Otherwise, we’ve got you covered!

Bring a lunch and some snacks or make use of our many local establishments to grab a quick bite during the lunch break.

Instructor Bio

Eli Barlow is a woodworker, jeweler and teacher living in Plainfield, Vermont. He has experience building chairs and teaching at Sawyer Made, learning windsor construction and design from George Sawyer. He was first introduced to green woodworking at Sterling College, where he has since taught an introduction to the shop class. Yestermorrow is another institution where he has attended as a student and returned to as a teacher, for ladder back chair classes in their Woodworking Certificate program. He has a small jewelry studio in the Crumb Factory, an artist collective started with friends in Montpelier VT. Eli is constantly grateful for the teachers in his life, and inspired by the craft community he gets to be a part of!

Woodturning: Turn a Low Stool