This Instructable was created as a part of my Diploma in Computer Aided Design and Drafting at Medicine Hat College. The intent of this project is to apply some design elements along with "up-cycling" items purchased from the local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.

We were given a budget of $20 per student and let loose in the store. Here is how to turn 2 stainless bathroom grab rails and a rough cut 4x4 timber from the shipping yards into an indoor/outdoor stool.

*This is not a step by step procedure on how to use power tools, take measurements,etc. Merely how I went about my project creatively. If you want to know how to use tools properly, there are many other Instructables on this site serving that purpose.

Step 1: Brainstorm

Put all of the materials you have to work with in a pile on the floor...stare at them for a while...look at the tools you have to work with...(a sawzall)...realize you don't have enough material to build the chair you had in mind...take a smoke break and regroup.

*this step can be replaced with spending 30 seconds to a full 5 minutes on Social media, finding a project that someone else has done and copying it.

Step 2: Remember You Have the Ability and Access to 3D Modeling.

After all this is the COMPUTER AIDED DRAFTING AND DESIGN program!!!

Take measurements of all components you have to work with and head to the computer. Open up Autodesk Inventor, or if you are really cutting edge, hop into Fusion 360. Here you can model your components in 3d space, assemble, critique, re-design, adjust, cut, basically everything you can do with the materials in the shop without physically ruining any of your limited materials before you are happy with the design.

Step 3: Have a Friend Test Your Design.

Start with your friends that look a little malnourished. This is incase your stress analysis calculations were somehow compromised and the structure will not support your own 240lb frame. Once the initial load test is passed, take your friend out for a cheeseburger or two to celebrate the successful day of destructive testing.

Step 4: Display Your Project

This is the easiest part of your project because all you really do is set the project on a stage that someone else has prepared for you, wait your turn, and go up and talk about your project... touch on subjects such as where the materials come from, the total cost, what it's now worth, how friends can become enemies and enemies become friends, protagonists, antagonists, etc....

...Oh and global warming, it's always good to bring up global warming on a recycling project.