Introduction: Japanese Barstool With Tusk and Tenon Joint
This is my very first piece of furniture built using strictly joinery. I use a #Tusk #Tenon #Joint as well as some more traditional joinery to create this Japanese inspired chair / stool, also known as a contemplation stool. I am starting to fall in love with woodworking so I decided I wanted to create a chair strictly using wood. I used walnut and white oak. This chair will be entered into the builders challenge instagram woodworking contest.
Step 1: Watch the Full in Depth Build!
Full video of this build with all the commentary, details and instructions.
Step 2: Mill Lumber and Cut Down to Size
I am using 6 Quarter Walnut and some thin white oak for this entire build. I start off by milling up the walnut by cutting it down to size on the miter saw, using my #6 hand plane to get one side perfectly flat then ripping it down the table saw to get the other side perfectly flat. For both stool legs I put them through the thickness planer to get them perfectly flat. For the actual seat I used an already bowed piece of walnut and did not put it through the planer because I wanted to keep the bow for the natural curved look of the Japanese style stool.
Step 3: Glue Up & Secondary Inlay.
I did the first glue up by sandwiching some 1/4" white oak between the walnut in both legs and the seat. Once dried I used my miter gauge on the table saw to rip all three pieces again, so I can glue up once more some white oak down the side of each piece.
Step 4: Tapering Jig / Curving Each Piece and Rough Sanding
I used a tapering jig to taper both legs slightly at about 1/2" on either side. I think this will give it a good contrast from the wide seat. I then needed to create the curve in each piece. Both legs, and the seat will have a slight curve so I took it to the bandsaw and cut out the curve. I then used some 60 grit sandpaper to clean up all of the bandsaw marks.
Step 5: Epoxy Knot and Taper Seat
I used some black epoxy to fill in a knot that was loose on one of the legs. I then put a 70 degree bevel on the seat. This deemed a bit tricky because it was curved. I had to put a large shim under opposing side to keep the cut flat and 70 degrees.
Step 6: Shouldered Tenons on the Legs.
I created shouldered leg tenons by ripping a 1/2" cut, then finishing it off by taking it to the bandsaw. I then had to cut the shoulders by using my pull saw. I cleaned everything up with a chisel and sandpaper.
Step 7: Seat Mortise
To create the seat mortise I first bored out material with a forstner bit on the drill press, then cleaned everything up using a chisel. I then did a dry fit and luckily they fit perfectly!
Step 8: Stretcher
For the stretcher I sandwiched white oak between walnut and cut out a curve using the bandsaw. To match the seat top I also beveled both ends at 70 degrees.
Step 9: Shouldered Stretcher Tenon
I created the shouldered tenon on the end of the stretcher by making multiple cuts using my miter gauge on the table saw. To cut the curved section of this I had to bring it over to the bandsaw. I then cleaned everything up with the chisel and sandpaper. I then did a dry fit and everything fit as it should!
Step 10: Mortise in the Legs
I created a Mortise in each leg by first boring material out using the drill press with forster bit. I then used the chisel and hand files to clean it up and get a perfect fit.
Step 11: Tusks
For the Tusks I used an opposing white oak with walnut inlay. I drew out my tusk design then cut it out on the bandsaw and then finished by sanding to 220 grit.
Step 12: Stretcher Mortise
I bored out material using a forster bit on my drill press then cleaned everything up with a chisel and hand files.
Step 13: Dry Fit/ Final Sanding/ Glue Up / Finish
I did a dry fit to make sure everything fit together snugly. I then did a final sanding of every piece up to 220 grit before gluing up. I decided to use 5 minute epoxy for this glue up just to add some more strength than conventional wood glue. Once everything was dry I did some touch up sanding and finished everything using Festool's heavy duty finish.
Step 14: Watch the Entire Build!
Thank you for viewing this instructable. It was a lot of fun to build and I plan on doing some more woodworking soon!
20 Comments
1 year ago
Fantastic piece of work! Good luck in the contest.
Reply 12 months ago
Thank you!
12 months ago
Great piece of furniture.I have wanted to make one myself so now i have your plans i'll have a go Some designs are pretty complicated but yours looks good. Cheers
Reply 12 months ago
Thank you Bella.
1 year ago on Step 1
Great job. Perhaps you could build more furniture; you ser very good at it.
Thank you very much for the video!
Reply 1 year ago
Thank you! I think i will in the future!
1 year ago
VERY nice job! I really like your design and execution.
Additionally, I'd be interested in seeing a video and Instructable about your taper jig.
Reply 1 year ago
Thank you! I actually thought about it quite a bit, and there are already a ton of instructables and videos on this same tapering jig so I don't think I will end up doing one. Do a quick search on DIY tapering jig and you can find really good plans for this exact one!
Reply 1 year ago
OK, thanks...I will look online. I also forgot to comment on your bandsaw wheel brake. Hilarious! Keep up the good work, and the humor.
Reply 1 year ago
haha thank you!
Question 1 year ago on Step 11
Great build. What are the dimensions of the stool?
Answer 1 year ago
It is 24" tall x 20" wide x 8" deep
1 year ago
Very nice build. I always appreciate it when 'mistakes are made' and you show how to fix them or work around them. I also like watching someone work out how to do things since that is how I do pretty much everything. That, and watching videos of course. Keep up the great work.
Reply 1 year ago
Im almost certain that most people that have zero mistakes just edited their mistakes out lol. I also learn everything from watching other people work, it is the best way to learn! Thanks for watching!
1 year ago
That’s beautiful! And, sometimes it’s good to be lucky. I have some walnut from an old walnut farm and want to make one or two of these cool contemplation stools. I might use through mortice and tenon with wedges on the top. I have to contemplate that.
My kids think ‘BM Sculptures’ making a stool is just hysterical. They just get the galloping happies and giggle, laugh and snort for about twenty minutes. Then I send them to bed.
Reply 1 year ago
haha I have really strayed away from my sculptural background I suppose. Thats amazing that you have some old walnut you can work with from the farm. That would be really cool and sentimental to make a couple of stools from it!
1 year ago
"luckily they fit perfectly!" - not luck Blake - good work!
Reply 1 year ago
haha well Thank you.... A little luck a little craftsmanship I suppose
1 year ago
Wow. Beautiful! I had never heard of a contemplation stool. Thanks for posting.
Reply 1 year ago
Thank you Mark... I never heard of it either before starting this build haha. Once I researched it I learned that the Japanese barstool and Contemplation stool are one in the same basically.