My take on Richard Maguire’s (The English Woodworker) danish stool

[SteveMP]

Richard’s video series are superb, love them all. Highly recommend them. Fantastic instruction and entertaining videos. This is my take on his danish stool i built a couple of years ago I did all the woodworking with hand tools, which was tough as there are hardly any straight lines anywhere. The legs are at compund angles, and attach to pieces that are rounded and curved. Angled mortise and tenons, etc. was a learning curve for sure

 

[Dr.Al]

That looks really smart Steve. Making curvy things (especially curvy joinery) is something I haven't dared try just yet. You've managed to make that look really elegant.

Presumably oak based on the pictures, but what's the woven top made from? How hard was that to do?

 

[SteveMP]

That looks really smart Steve. Making curvy things (especially curvy joinery) is something I haven't dared try just yet. You've managed to make that look really elegant.

Presumably oak based on the pictures, but what's the woven top made from? How hard was that to do?

Thank you. So traditionally, you would use danish paper cord. Which is basically paper twisted super tight and weaved. Comes in black or natural(tan), and either "laced" or unlaced (laced is tighter, neater looking). Problem was it would cost about $50-75 to get the cord I wanted, as its only made in Denmark nowadays I believe. So I opted for the $8 hemp cord from Walmart, lol. My initial thought was this would be a "practice" one, and I would possibly make a nicer one with the real papercord after seeing how this turned out. BUt of course other projects keep popping up! Yes this is Quarter Sawn White Oak. I like the contrast of black cord. My "plan" was to make another in walnut and use the tan cord on that so kind of opposites. The weaving wasn't too bad. My daughter was still living here at the time in college ( this is one of a few projects we did together while she was here), I put all the "nails' in and got it started and she pretty much did the bulk of the weaving. Once you get started its pretty repetitive.

 

[AndyT]

That's a really good looking stool. It leaves me wondering why I have never tried to make anything like it and feeling a bit envious!

And it's good to hear that Richard's work is appreciated. I've had the privilege of meeting him a few times, and unsurprisingly he's just the same in real life as he in on screen - down to earth, practical and skilful.

 

[SteveMP]

That's a really good looking stool. It leaves me wondering why I have never tried to make anything like it and feeling a bit envious!

And it's good to hear that Richard's work is appreciated. I've had the privilege of meeting him a few times, and unsurprisingly he's just the same in real life as he in on screen - down to earth, practical and skilful.

Thank you! Very cool that you got to meet him, he seems really cool. I read Chris Schwarz's blog where he was excited to meet Richard. This was back when Richard was selling $6,000 benches (with a 1-2 year waiting list and that was back then's prices) : https://blog.lostartpress.com/2013/09/22/meeting-finally-workbench-maker-richard-maguire/

But look at the workmanship on some of his benches, from the woodworking to the custom hardware:

Maguire Closes His Doors - The English Woodworker

This has been a difficult decision to make, and so this has been a post which has been sat in my notebook for quite some time. But after much agonising and trying to tip toe around things, Helen and I have chosen to make this announcement concrete.

www.theenglishwoodworker.com

 

[Woodbloke]

That's a really good looking stool. It leaves me wondering why I have never tried to make anything like it and feeling a bit envious!

And it's good to hear that Richard's work is appreciated. I've had the privilege of meeting him a few times, and unsurprisingly he's just the same in real life as he in on screen - down to earth, practical and skilful.

I had the privilege of meeting not only Richard, but his partner as well. I wonder what's happened to him; he appears to have dropped off the face of the woodworking planet? - Rob

 

[AndyT]

I had the privilege of meeting not only Richard, but his partner as well. I wonder what's happened to him; he appears to have dropped off the face of the woodworking planet? - Rob

He's back on YouTube, covering his subjects in a distinctive, unhurried manner. Two long videos in the last month.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnglishWoodworker

 

[SteveMP]

He's back on YouTube, covering his subjects in a distinctive, unhurried manner. Two long videos in the last month.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnglishWoodworker

Funny you mentioned that as I am currently watching his new chairmaking tools series as we speak. The other recent ones are good too, on sharpening, and tuning the gents saw from Veritas.

 

[AndyP]

Nice stool the black weave goes well with the oak .

You’ve left out the most important detail though. Is it comfy to sit on?

 

[SteveMP]

Nice stool the black weave goes well with the oak .

You’ve left out the most important detail though. Is it comfy to sit on?

Well, it is pretty comfy, the weaving stretches a bit to conform to you. However, i tried using it for woodworking in my garage for a bit and the top just catches wood chips and dust etc. So it kind of sits by the door as a sort of temporary book storage for people to set stuff on lol.

 

[Cabinetman]

Funny you mentioned that as I am currently watching his new chairmaking tools series as we speak. The other recent ones are good too, on sharpening, and tuning the gents saw from Veritas.

Thanks will catch up with the chair making, two seater with lots of bent parts is definitely on the cards (eventually)
Nice stool Steve, and I thought you were going to say it was seagrass- that’s what used to be used in the uk afaik.
Ian
Ps, it’s sold over here, $13 per lb, which isn’t very handy when all you know is how much you need by length.

 

[SteveMP]

Thanks will catch up with the chair making, two seater with lots of bent parts is definitely on the cards (eventually)
Nice stool Steve, and I thought you were going to say it was seagrass- that’s what used to be used in the uk afaik.
Ian
Ps, it’s sold over here, $13 per lb, which isn’t very handy when all you know is how much you need by length.

I've seen seagrass used, as well as birch bark for various stools and chairs. In fact, I had an easier time finding seagrass when I was looking for the paper cord. But being a danish style stool I was trying to make it look more authentic (even though I ended up using hemp cord). Its all good until you see the price on the really nice stuff.