Tall Three Legged Stool

This stool was built spontaneously.  No plans were made or referred to, and virtually nothing was measured.

I enjoy the process of planning and design.  It gives you the ability to analyze a concept, foresee problems and explore different solutions.  Good design yields form integrated with function, although not everything thrives with careful planning; works of color and organic form can easily wither if treated too strictly.

When working with furniture, however, especially when fitting joints amid the constraints of geometry while anticipating physical forces, planning is good.

Nonetheless, I walked into the shop one day and just wanted to start making something.  I didn’t even know what.

I picked out some oak planks, and was soon leaning one piece against another until I realized it was going to be a three legged stool.  Proper planning probably would have resulted in more elegant joinery, and in retrospect, I think I could have arrived at a stronger stool using less wood, but that wasn’t the point.

People have been building things without plans for millennia,  and on that particular day, I did, too.

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