Number 16

I haven't posted anything for two weeks already, mainly because I haven't finished a stool for two weeks. And the new one I just finished, made of alder, is already sold. Sorry. (Update, 9-6-12: Well, it turns out that this stool isn't sold, after all.) (Update, 9-8-12: Well, it turns out that this stool is sold, after all.)
Still, I thought I'd give this stool a number and a blog post, because it certainly deserves it as much as any other stool I've made. And, I'm always hoping that someone might see a stool they like and contact me to make another one similar to it. (Update, 9-6-12: Or, buy this one, and you won't have to wait!)
The legs and sides of this stool are made of round alder branches and twigs, about the same as other stools in this series.

But for the seat, I thought I'd try something different. I cut a larger alder branch, and since alder doesn't like to split in a straight line like sumac or popple will, I first cut the branch to the length of the seat (32 cm), then used a table saw to saw the pieces down the middle to make boards. I sawed them as flat as I possibly could, by cutting from one end half way, then from the other end. The little table saw I used isn't quite the same thing as a sawmill for sawing lumber, so the boards came out kind of rustic-looking, which was the plan from the beginning.
If I wanted to use perfectly square dimension lumber, I'd go to a lumber yard to buy it, instead of going out in the woods for it, and I wouldn't call these "rustic stools".  Eh?
Anyway, I sanded the rustic boards down smooth enough so they can be sat on comfortably, and nailed and wired everything together so it won't come apart even after years of use.
The pictures below are a couple of views of this stool upside-down, to show its construction in a little more detail. The next post will show some of the other stools from the bottom side up, and also a couple of pictures of a rustic table I've been working on.
As I said above, this stool is already sold. For general information about these stools, which ones are still available, pricing, etc., please see the Introduction.

Number 15

This stool is another made of scorched maple. This time, instead of using round branches for legs, I took a larger piece and split it into four. Actually, it ended up being split into five -- because when I looked at the original four pieces, they weren't very equal, so I split a little off of the largest one and added it onto the smallest. Anyway, there are still four legs, as usual. The longer pieces in the picture of the wood before it is scorched will be legs for a table I'm going to be working on this week.
I don't know if I'll be able to finish both a table and a stool in one week, but I hope so, since I've got most of the materials together already. There are just about all kinds and colors of sticks piling up on the table, and every time I walk by, one of them seems to catch on my shirt and part of the pile flips onto the floor ... so I'm getting kind of eager to get them made into something more useful than a pile of sticks.

I used some oak window trim found behind the garage for the seat of this one, and what was left of the old ladder from #14 for the side-rails.
I finished stool Number 15 last night, but was making mixed-fruit (mostly chokecherry) jelly until late, so didn't have time or energy to put up the blog until this morning.  "Better late than never."
Here are a couple of pictures of the new stool. It is for sale for $65. Please contact me through the comments section of this blog, or by email at lewagner2002@yahoo.com, Reference stool #15. (Sorry, this stool is already sold.) For general info about these stools, please see Introduction to this blog.