Project #3 from DVA: Stool for changing brakes

I am getting tired of sitting on the ground or squatting when changing brakes or rotating the tires on my vehicles.

I got the idea for the stool of the Miller welding forums for a cool stool.

Materials consist of 1” 16 gage square tubing, four 4 inch 11 gage gussets and more materials to come.

The lower portion of the stool measures 16” wide x18” long. The seat is 9”X16” and the angles were cut to allow the seat to make a stool 11” tall. The pieces were all cut on my Rage dry cut saw at a 45° angle and welded to have no open ends on the tubing. Accessible welds were ground flat with a flapper wheel for looks.

I am still debating on either using expanded metal on the seat or using Stainless Steel sheet that will be riveted on the seat. The bottom of the stool will receive a stainless steel sheet and will be fastened by rivets and will provide a good storage location for parts when working around the house.

Wheels will be added to the stool to provide mobility. I plan on dropping the frame off at the powder coaters at the end of the month.

I have also included some pictures of the welds that were not accessible to the flapper wheel.

Current time to fabricate: Cutting steel ~0.5 hr, welding and fit up ~0.75 hr, current grinding and sanding ~0.5 hr. I have about 1.5 hours of work left to finish the project. Total build time estimate when finished 3.25 hr.

Cost to fabricate: Tubing 12 feet of tubing (scrap from another project), 4 gussets $4.00, expanded metal (scrap from another project), stainless steel sheet (estimate $25.00 from Industrial Metal Supply scrap section and about $5 to have a shop make a few cuts on their sheer), wheels will cost about $25-35 dollars and powder coating will cost about 35.00. Total estimated cost for stool is about $94-104 dollars.

Nicely done- adding the wheels will make your seat much better than sitting on a upside down bucket! (That's how I swap brake pads.) Can I ask- what process are you using? I see orange flecks in photo 1- is that residual slag from flux core or SMAW?

I had a hot flash while reading your post: if you plan to use expanded metal on the seat, you could fold the edges down to 90* all the way around, and attach on the inside surface of the seat rectangle instead of the top surface, and have a very smooth seat with no sharp edges to grab your clothes. Unless you thought of that already!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DaveO

Nicely done- adding the wheels will make your seat much better than sitting on a upside down bucket! (That's how I swap brake pads.) Can I ask- what process are you using? I see orange flecks in photo 1- is that residual slag from flux core or SMAW?

I had a hot flash while reading your post: if you plan to use expanded metal on the seat, you could fold the edges down to 90* all the way around, and attach on the inside surface of the seat rectangle instead of the top surface, and have a very smooth seat with no sharp edges to grab your clothes. Unless you thought of that already!

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Yes adding wheels will make it nice to roll around. Just should not use it as a step stool like my third grade teacher who broke his arm when he used a rolling chair as a step stool (do not know why I remember that from 25 years ago).

Yes there are some orange flakes in the picture. I was using my Miller 252, 0.035 ER70S-6 wire, with 75-25 Mix Argon-CO2 shielding gas. There is some residual silicone left over from the MIG wire as you see in many close ups of the MIG welds. I usually take a wire brush to the welds with a little bit more vigor, but if you look close there is some burnt oil/junk by some of the welds.

I did think about getting my pants caught in expanded metal but did not think about bending it as you described. That will be a good idea if I went with expanded metal for the seat. May need to use your idea.

Plywood+foam+vinyl=happy butt.

Seriously, I have a factory made rolling stool from many years ago that has a nice cushy place to sit and a taller one I made recently that just has a 2x6 for the seat. Guess which one I try to avoid using unless I absolutely need to be at the correct height.

The only change I might make is to taper the lower rail corners to keep from knocking my ankles on them and sure would put thick cushion. Looks good nice welds.

After the suggestions on the padded seat I will look into what this may take. I always like a nice soft seat.

I was going to make a seat for welding also and will have it powder coated at the same time.

Has anyone placed a padded seat on sheet metal or wood???

Here are a couple of sites with basic info on padding a seat:
http://www.buildeazy.com/newserve/ha...pholstery.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_7649393_upho...wood-seat.html

I don't think you would need the batting in this instance, plain foam should be just fine. I would make the plywood about 1/2" larger then the frame all the way around and drill 4 or 5 1/2" vent holes a few inches apart near the center (assuming you will be using vinyl or other non-breathable fabric).

The best way to attach it would probably be to drill matching holes through the wood and the frame and install "T" nuts in the plywood before you pad it so you can bolt it down good and secure.

Edit: Don't forget to round the corners of the plywood!

Looks easy enugh, I think that the soft seat is the way to go.