William John Shorter, McCrae, Victoria

Redgum stools
395 h x 430 w x 400 d

I’ve always thought of stools as perhaps the simplest and most fundamental way of sitting down. And with a three-legged stool the ground does not necessarily have to be flat. They are easily moveable and if unused don’t take up a great deal of space. And then I think they just look good and pleasing to the eye.
I started making stool thirty years ago for my own children—I’m now making them for my grandchildren. But these two are perhaps an extension of that process, being exaggerated both in size and form.
I prefer to usually use recycled timber—offcuts, old fence posts, wind blown branches, basically whatever I can get my hands on. However, the timber used in these two stools is new, kiln dried for the seats and rough sawsn and air-dried for the legs.

Materials
Redgum, kiln and air-dried. 6” round steel bar for large stool bracing and embedded in epoxy adhesive (Bostix two-part epoxy bond).

Joinery
Wedged turned legs.

Glues
PVA Parfix wood glue (high strength).

Finishes
Feast Watson Satinproof.

Photos: William John Shorter