Empire Stool

We ran across the little stool in an antique shop, and loved everything except the price.   Thus, the old "hold my beer" thinking kicked in.

I picked up a nice piece of black cherry and started work.  The first issue was that I perceived the legs to be a bit on the thin side to support significant weight, given the length of the "arms."   I solved this by laminating two 3/4" pieces for the legs, turning one at about 20 degrees to prevent alignment of the grain and hopefully precluding splitting.  It must ahve worked as it has survived for years.  

Then, how to cut the curves on the slab.  I came up with the sled arrangement, both concave and convex.  I wanted the ends to be thicker that the center to add some interest, so the radii had to be different.  Used a bowl making bit with an extension in the router.  It was slow and dusty.  Somehow, the radius chosen was slightly less than I intended and the end thickness was not as pronounced as intended, but its OK.

Then, now to make the grooves on the edges.  I ended up making small sleds for the small router, that indexed on the edge of piece, thus having the grooves follow the edges.  Then, how to make the grooves on the ends, with different angles top and bottom.  Two more small sleds, and it all worked out.