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A step stool gets stood on by children and adults, usually while reaching for something heavy. So the joinery is not decorative — a stool held together with a few screws into end grain will loosen, wobble, and eventually dump someone.
Housed dados (the treads let into the sides) plus glue turn the whole thing into one rigid unit. Same joint you'd use in a bookcase, at a scale where you can learn it in an afternoon.
Maple for hardness. Paint it or leave it clear; the Shakers would have painted it.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Hard maple, 4/4Hard maple because people stand on this. Pine will dent and eventually crack across a tread.≈ about 16 ft of 3/4" × 6" board | 6 board feet |
| Wood glue | 4 oz |
| Wood screws, #8 x 1-1/4"Belt and braces. The dados carry the load; screws just insure against a bad glue joint. | 8 each |
| Paint or clear interior finishMilk paint is the period-correct Shaker finish and it wears beautifully. | 8 oz |
| Sandpaper, assorted grits | 6 each |
A board foot is a volume, not a length: 144 cubic inches, or a piece 1″ thick by 12″ wide by 12″ long. The “≈” note beside each row shows roughly how much 3/4″ × 6″ board that works out to.
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| SidesHard MapleCurved cutout at the bottom forms two feet — so the stool sits on four points, not on a full edge that will rock on any uneven floor. | 2 | 3/4" × 11" × 16" |
| Bottom treadHard Maple | 1 | 3/4" × 9" × 15 1/2" |
| Top treadHard MapleTread lengths include 1/4" at each end for the dados. | 1 | 3/4" × 8" × 15 1/2" |
| Back braceHard MapleAcross the back, under the top tread. This is what stops the stool racking front-to-back. | 1 | 3/4" × 3" × 15 1/2" |
Buy 4 boards at 8 ft.
1 board
1 board
1 board
1 board
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Clamp the two side blanks face to face and mark the dado positions across both at once.
Mark them separately and your treads will be out of level — on a stool someone stands on, that's not a cosmetic problem.
3/4" wide, 1/4" deep, across the inside face of each side, at both tread heights.
Test the fit on a scrap of your actual tread stock. 'Nominal 3/4"' maple is rarely exactly 3/4". You want a fit that pushes together with firm hand pressure — tight enough to hold itself, loose enough that glue has somewhere to go.
Draw an arch at the bottom of each side, leaving about 2" of foot at each corner. Cut with a jigsaw and sand the curve fair.
The arch means the stool stands on four feet instead of two long edges. On any real floor, a full-edge stool rocks; a four-footed one doesn't.
Assemble dry — both treads into the dados, back brace in place.
Check it's square, sits flat, and doesn't rack when you push the top. Fix anything wrong now. Once glue is in the dados you have about five minutes.
Glue in the dados, seat the treads, add the back brace, clamp across the sides.
Check square with a tape across the diagonals while the clamps are still moveable.
Optionally drive two screws per tread through the sides into the tread ends — countersunk and plugged. The dados are doing the work, but a stool is a load-bearing object with a child on it, and I'd rather over-build it.
Round over every edge generously. This gets grabbed by hands and stood on by bare feet, and a sharp maple arris is unpleasant on both.
Sand to 220. Milk paint for the traditional look (it chips and wears in a way that gets better, not worse), or hardwax oil to show the maple.
Then stand on it. Bounce a little. If it doesn't creak or shift, you cut your dados right.
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