Foldable Stool - Reverse Engineering the Tallon Stool

I made a simple folding stool, based on the design of late designer Roger Tallon. This stool can be made from a single board of any wood of your choice, from one of the finished wide hardwood boards available at any big box hardware store. I reversed engineered the design of the Tallon stool to be recreated, and created this prototype to fully realize the design.

Supplies

This can be made from a single board of the hardwood of your choice. For the small stool I made, I only needed a 36" x 9-1/2" board. Due to low stock, I had to buy a 1"x12"x4' oak board. This creates more waste, but a larger stool would quickly fill up the board. I wanted to use a poplar board, but the ones at my local store was extremely warped. You will also need to pick up a 3/8" dowel in the same material. If you want to using ONLY one board, you can easily manufacture your own dowel with the leftover wood.

Supplies:

• 1x12x4' hardwood board, preferably maple or poplar
• 3/8" dowel
• Wood glue
• Sandpaper

Tools: These are the tools I used, and mainly have hand tools.

1. Table saw (Circular saw will work with guides)
2. Circular saw
3. Drill (A drill press would be immensely helpful!)
4. 3/8" drill bit
5. Hand router (If you have a router table, life will be fantastic, if not, some time and many jigs will guide you along the way)
6. 3/8" spiral fluted bit, or a 1/4" spiral fluted and 3/8" straight fluted bit.

Step 1: Design

I based this stool off the late 20th century designer Roger Tallon. His folding stools can run between $200 and $500 (USD) from online mid century dealers. This simple and elegant design can be broken down into its parts and reversed engineered to recreate the design to be DIY'ed.

The stool is comprised of 4 parts

1. The top
2. Center leg
3. Outer 'U' shaped leg made of 3 parts
4. The hinges

The design revolves around a single dimension that drives all others. The channel along the side of the center leg will effect how far the center leg travels when being closed, along with how far apart the legs open from each other. Adjusting this dimension will allow anyone to recrate this design at any size!

Step 2: Cutting Pieces From the Board

I cut the board to size using a table saw, aided with a quick rip cut fence. This can easily be done with a circular saw and guides as well.

1. I first ripped the board to lengths, 9", 4" and 18-1/2".
2. I then cut the top to be a 9" square and ripped a 4-3/4" piece out of the 4" piece.
3. The longest board will form the center and the 2 side pieces. I first ruff cut to 8" wide, then cut a 1-3/4" board from the left and right side of the board, before cutting the center down to 4-3/4". I did this so the grains would better match each other when assembled.

Step 3: Routing Out the Channels

The guide for the center leg needs to be routed into the side of the board. Cutting this channel can be made MUCH easier by using a router table. Without a router table, a simple jig will make this job just as easy!

Trim router jig:

1. The jig I made is just a few boards of scrap plywood to ride along the side of the board. Attach 2 boards to form a L, one side to ride along the face of the board, one for the router to sit on.
2. I used a 3/4" board as a separator to clamp the 2 " guides to, then attached a board along the top to keep them separated 3/4".
3. I then placed a pointed router bit into my trim router as a center guide. I used the bit to center the router within the guide, then screwed the base of the router into the jig.

Routing the side of the board:

1. I marked the length for the top of the channel at 6-3/8", then 4" down. I used a punch to mark the center of the board along this mark.
2. I used the V bit again to check centers and to setup stops at the top and bottom using clamps.
3. I swapped in a 1/4" spiral fluted bit to remove a bunch of material before working to the final size. I adjusted the router down to the face of the board, and moved the guide on the router base to 0". I worked the bit into the piece 1/4" deep at a time, using the guide on the router to check depth. The channel needs to be 3/4" deep for a stronger connection.
4. Then I swapped in a 3/8" straight flute to cut the channel to the final size and repeated the proccess.

Step 4: Cutting the Hinges

Next step is to drill the holes, cut the tenons, and cut and shape the hinges. (After cleaning up from routing....) It is important to take the time to measure and punch the centers to guide the drill bit in.

Tenons (to accept the hinges)

1. Each leg needs a tenon in order to accept the hinges at the top. This tenon needs to be 3/4" wide, 3/4" deep centered along the width of the board.
2. To cut the tenon, I used a 3/4" forstner bit to remove as much material as possible first. Use the bit down into the pocket to help square out the bottom as well.
3. Use a chisel to clean out and square the tenon.

Holes: Use the guide above to follow along

1. There are 5 holes that need to be drilled, 1 at the top of each leg that attaches to the top, and 2 to align with the center channel.
2. I used a 3/8" drill bit with a hand drill, using a guide to help keep the bit perpendicular to the face.
3. For the top holes, they need to be drilled 3/8" down from the top, and centered on the board. The smaller side legs need to be drilled through, from one side to the other.
4. The hole on the center board need to be drilled at the same location. This need to be drilled through one face, into the center tenon, and into the side face of the tenon 3/4". This will allow you to push the dowel through.
5. The center holes need to be 6-3/8" down from the top, and only 3/4" deep.

Hinges:

1. I cut the hinges from some of the leftover wood at 7/8" x 1-1/8".
2. I drilled the holes first, that need to be 3/8" from the bottom, and centered on the board.
3. Mark the curve on the wood, I found a circular item laying around that matched the width as a guide.
4. To shape the hinge I clamped it into a pair of locking plyers, and used a belt sander to round over the curve little by little.

Step 5: Assembly

Time to finish up! Assembly on this project is incredibly quick, as there are very few parts.

Assembly:

1. Using a 3/8" round over bit, round the ends of all the leg pieces. Also round over the center separator on the top and bottom
2. Glue a 3/4" dowel into the center of each side leg.
3. Slide these dowels into the side channels on the center.
4. Apply glue to the sides of the bottom separator. Align this with the the bottom of the side legs. Use clamps to hold into place and allow to dry.
5. Attach the hinges to the bottom of the top. I provided some dimensions to follow. The hinges need to be 4" off of center, and align with the corresponding slots on the legs. Use a square to be certain the hinges are square to the top.
6. Allow to dry overnight.
7. To assemble the top to the legs, get two 3" dowels ready for the side legs, and a long length for the center. I rubbed some paste wax inside the holes on the hinges to keep things lubricated.
8. Add some glue on only one side of the holes on the legs, NOT on the hinge. For the center leg, add glue into the hole that is not all the way though. Keep track of where the glue is and drive the dowel in from the opposite side, so that you are not pushing glue into the hinge.
9. Starting with the side legs, work the dowel into the holes and align with the corresponding hinge, then drive the dowel all the way through. Cut the excess off with a handsaw and sand flat.
10. Work the stool open and close a few times to make sure it is all working properly.

Finishing:

1. I sanded the stool up to 220 grit sand paper. I slightly rounded over the edges of the legs to prevent splintering. I used a sanding block to put a slight chamfer on the top.
2. The finish I used is Danish Oil, applied with a rag. This provides a nice natural finish that also helps repel water and staining.

Step 6:

This was such a fun undertaking. It has been many months since I have been able to work on a small project like this, and this was a fantastic way to get back into it. This design can be scaled up to make a larger stool, or a large top can be added to make a nice folding table.

A little PS: I noticed when closing the stool, the top snaps closed, and pushes the center leg out too far from flat. I needed to add a small 'bumper' to the bottom of the top, in order for the top to fold parallel to the legs. This piece is as tall as the gap between the top of the legs and the bottom of the top when fully closed. (This is difficult to describe and I have no images of it, as it was a last minute add. Making the hinges shorter would also fix this issue.

Remember, the design all revolves around the size of the channel cut on the side. This will determine all other crucial dimensions on the design.

Thank you, and happy crafting!