Counter Height Bar Stool
In the house that we are renovating we are planning for a small counter height area to pull up a couple of stools. I knew we needed bar stools and I knew I wanted something a little nicer than a simple bar stool. I wanted to make curved seat bar stool but I knew I didn’t have the tools required to do so. Or so I thought. Then I decided that I could just cut the curved seat out of each board before I assembled it. So that’s what I did, and I think it worked out great. And can you believe it was made out of only three 2x4s and for about $10!
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Required Tools
Materials
- Qty 2 – 2 x 4 x 8′
- Qty 2 – 2 x 2 x 8’
- 2-1/2” Wood Screws
- 2-1/2” Pocket Screws
- Wood Glue
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Dimensions
Cut List
How to build a Counter Height Bar Stool
Questions? Comments?
As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to comment below and especially don’t forget to post pictures of your finished products in the comments! ENJOY!
Question – What wood did you all use for these – from the video, or others that you might recommend?
I used construction grade 2x4s that you can find at any lumber yard or box store
Not sure if I was just being dumb somehow, but I had a real hard time trying to get the pocket screws to work with the 5 degree angle joints. I don’t have that awesome kreg table you have, so I was drilling the pocket holes with the regular kreg jig clamped to the workbench. I’m no sure but I think the angle of the pocket holes kept causing the pieces to flare out away from each other when the screws were being tightened. I ended up having to just drill a screw straight through the outside legs into the cross-supports, which obviously is not strong since it’s driving a screw into end grain. Any thoughts? Thanks!
That is a very common problem when using pocket holes. Try clamping you work before installing the screws. It really cuts down on the wander that you get.
Would it be possible to build and attach a back on this design?
I am looking for plans to build a 36” stool like this. Do you have anything like that?
Could this project be done with a ryobi orbit sander instead of a belt sander? Is the a specific reason for the type of sander?
Best
Corbin
I’m really looking forward to building these. I am going to make a set of four for my son. Do you have any plans for a table to match?
Really good plans and the video is perfect for following along…built 2 today minus the curve in the seat but they look great and is the perfect height for a new table im building…thanks!!!
Hi! Nice work. What material you applied to get dark color of the wood?
how thick (or tall) are the seat slats? the cut list says 1 1/2 x 2 but which is the thicker dimension?
Thanks for sharing this! I’m building a couple today. 🙂
hi there
i am new to DIY and came across your blog. I got some things that i am planning to do but i can’t understand how the cut list works.
in the cut list below , i can tell first digit is the corresponds to the number of these cuts, but what does second set of figure means? e.g. 2×3 or 1×10 etc. i can tell 39 1/8″ is length of the cut but i cannot understand what is 2×3 or 1×10?
4 – 2×3 @ 39 1/8″
2 – 2×3’s @ 39 1/8
2 – 2×3’s @ 23 3/4″
3 – 1×10 @ 45″
can you please help.
thanks
That would be the dimensions of the wood,
Great, simple build. How might I scale these for bar height? Just longer legs?
Hi could you please tell me the stain you used on these stools its beautiful.
I am curious about the wood knife used in the video on the curves of the seat after glued together but before sanding. What type of knife is it and where would you recommend getting one like it?
I built the 2 x 8 outdoor bench – looks great! I want to try it using 5/4 X 6 deck material. Will the specifications be the same? I understand that I may have to add a piece to the seat and back due to less width. I’m thinking that it would be better for a porch (less weight? Thanks, Bob
Great shape great color and the instructions just to the point! Thanks!
what is the angle of the various joints?
I saw in one of the comments below that they were using a 5 degree angle.
it says all angles are 5 degrees.
Do you still have plans available for this project? I tried to click on the link and it said page not found
the link for the detailed plans doesn’t work do you have another link?
Is the link to these plans still available? I would love to give this a try.