2013 summer project #1 - Shop stool
So I finally built the shop stool I've been needing for the past few years. I originally planned to use some scrap stainless tubing to fab up something extra cool, but I now have a better purpose for that stainless, so I scraped the bottom of the barrel to find the scraps I needed.
I used Jody's shop stool project on WT&T to base my stool from, mostly due to the fact he had some clever ideas that really simplified the project. The main center part that the stool legs are attached to is 6" long piece of .120" wall 1-3/4" tubing, the legs are 1.5"x.065" (1/16") wall thickness, the caster plates are 3/16" thick flat stock, and the seat bottom consists of a leftover SBC flexplate, a rough cut piece of 1/8" plate that had been chucked into a lathe at some point (giving me a good line to follow for my cut), a 1" long piece of 2"x2"x1/4" square tube (smashed with a BFH to fit the nut tightly for welding), and a few 1"x8TPI nuts for the All Thread to join with. I still need to stitch up a vinyl cover tomorrow and grind the welds on the flex plate to remove the ring gear (tell me I'm not the only one that thought of adding a small High-torque starter to this stool for fast adjustability!).
Everything was tig welded and my only regrets were using the 1.5" tubing for the legs since I had just enough to get by with (which made the legs a little too short for total stability), plus I chose not to increase the miter angle to (say for example) 60 degrees to gain the stability back. It's not a teeter totter mind you, but it would be nice if it had a wider foot print. When I cut the legs, I had one piece of tubing 25" long, and one piece 13" long, so I measured the long piece, marked a 45 degree angle on it in the center, cut it, then realized I used the 1" mark on the tape as my "0". I was a little pissed at myself for making such a silly mistake, but I had 3/4" plate laying around that worked well for a shim, and the remaining 1/4" was removed from the other 2 legs when I notched them for the round main body. The legs didn't look right mocked up to the main body at different heights, hence the shim at the bottom. It is adjustable from 18" to around 25" without the foam and a cover installed.
The last photo shows the stool nearly finished (paint is still wet), plus the reason I don't have that new 200DX tig yet. She may look like a yellow lab to you, but I look at her and see $4600.00 in shop tools and welding equipment...that has a waggly tail, floppy ears, a cute face, and the heart of a child. That's just the combined vet bills from the past 16 months (she's not even 3 years old yet!)!
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