I made a stool similar to this one recently when my better half needed a small stool. Small being around eight inches high. The Web search for stool ideas was. to say the least, mind boggling. The one that did catch my eye was a Japanese Bathing Stool with its proportions wonderful to look at.

Using one stud made this stool a little shorter but it still works pretty good.

The list of equipment below is what I used but there are other ways to build this stool. Generally power tools are more accurate and a lot less work, however, most of these cuts can be done with a circular saw and the sanding can be done by hand. (if you are a masochist) Personally, I hate sanding.

Supplies

One 2x4 Stud, Kiln Dried Please note that the stud must be kiln dried and is shorter (92 5/8") than a standard 8 footer.

Table Saw

Miter Box or Miter Saw or Circular Saw

Belt Sander

Orbital Sander

Sandpaper 120 and 240 grit.

Wood glue

2 1/2" screws, Drywall screws work ok.

Dowel caps to cover the screw holes. Or just dowels or just patch the holes.

Your choice of finish. Paint, Varnish, Stain, Oil. Whatever your preference.

Step 1: Cut the 2x4

Right off the bat we need to get this long board cut into a few manageable pieces.

Cut 2 pieces at 28" with the leftover being longer.

Step 2: Rip the Sides Off the Stud

Because the edges are rounded and we need to glue them together, we'll have to cut off the sides of the boards. This can be done with a circular saw if you take some precautions.

Cut off approx. 1/4" from all sides of all three boards.

When done cut off the longer board to 28" and save the remainder for the center brace

Step 3: Sanding and Gluing

You wind up with three boards 28" and when you lay them out together side by side you'll probably see some major gaps. Move them around, or flip over or whatever to find the best working combination. Keep in mind how the grain of the wood works with the adjacent ones. Number them so you can go back to them after sanding. Yep, its time to use a plane or sander to get them straight. If you don't have a plane or electric jointer, I've found that sticking a sheet of sandpaper down to a flat surface and moving the wood back and forth works pretty good. Use the rough sandpaper to get this going. These aren't going to be perfect doing it this way but they are going to be good enough to glue and clamp them together.

When you're happy with the boards, they need to be glued together.

Load up the glue on one side of each joint and clamp them together. The glue manufacturers say it only takes around three hours to set. I usually let it go all night.

Step 4: Sanding Again

When the glue is dried and the clamps removed you should have a board approximately 9 1/2" x 28". Remember how miserable sanding the sides was? Yeah, It's sanding time again. This time its the top and bottom to remove not only the little ridges that might appear between boards, but the surface junk to get down to the pretty wood.

I used a belt sander with 80 grit to knock down the worst of the uneven edges then switched over to the orbital sander with 120 grit paper.

Step 5: Cut the Pieces

I used the table saw to make these crosscuts but here again you can use a circular saw.

First, trim one end of the glued up board just to square it up so you can measure off of it accurately The top board is 11 inches wide. Then adjust the saw to approximately 10 degrees. This 10 degree angle may be 9 or 11 degrees but be sure to make all your angle cuts the same by not adjusting the saw until you are through. As long as the cuts are the same for all angle cuts, everything will work out perfectly.

Cut the two legs approximately 8 inches from the long point to the short forming a parallelogram."

Then cut the remaining piece of 2x4 6" from the short side to the other short side.

Step 6: Assemble the Stool

Lay the stool pieces out on their sides. Center the legs to the top with the inside brace pushed up against the legs.. Mark the top board where the center of the legs are located and drill two 3/8" holes only 3/8" deep 3" from each side of the top for each leg. Then drill a 3/16" hole through the center of the 3'8" holes. Do the same for the legs where the center brace will be located.

Screw the stool together using 2 1/2" screws and cover them up with some 3/8" dowel caps. You can use just 3/8" dowel also but they will have to be cut off flush with the surface.

Oh yeah, it's going to need sanding again. Sorry.

Step 7: Finish

I used a spray lacquer finish for this one but you can do what you like. If you use a dark stain test it out on a scrap first cuz this aint the finest wood out there.

I'm pretty sure it's going to hold up to some major weight and be a conversation starter when you tell them that it was made out of one two by four. Congrats.

BTW

There are a lot of variations to this design you might think about. Put a hole in the top to pick the stool up from. Taper the legs out from the top. Cut the legs to look like it has four distinct legs. Use a thinner hardwood. Rout out some finger grooves under the top for comfort when picking up the stool.

This is a great way to start.