Busker's Stool

Seats are designed in specific ways, but we actually rest our bodies in lots of different poses that don't fit traditionally designed furniture. The task was to design a piece of furniture on the theme of repose. Following a research trip to London, I was inspired to make something that would enable a busker to play seated off the floor.

Experimentation with revealing laminates

I really wanted to continue to feed my burgeoning interest in laminating and veneering. This led to experimentation with veneers that revealed the layering in new and interesting ways.

Early design for the busker's stool with another veneer experiment

As it was a small busker's stool it needed to be portable so a lot of time was spent developing ideas for the legs. In conversation with tutors and visiting lecturers, the idea of a socket and thread emerged so that the legs could be removable for easy transportation in a bag. The leg went through various design iterations and I landed on a turned solution for the socket and leg, which to me was a big learning curve because I'd not done matching on the lathe before, only single pieces.

Test piece for a threaded leg

The back leg is shorter than the front two, which gives a more traditional 'sitting in' feel to the stool and I've had feedback that this is comfortable when used. The slant, which is based on the slant used on a chair, gives it a quirky look with the seat on quite a pronounced, unexpected jaunty angle.

Sockets for the legs

The core of the seat is solid Ash, with laminates of Walnut, Tulipwood, and Sycamore. The layered veneers are revealed by eroding the edges using an orbital sander and then finished by hand. There are aesthetic connotations with the traditional three-legged milking stool, probably because the needs of the intended users are actually quite similar, even though the jobs are markedly different!

The completed busker's stool showing the angle of the seat

This prototype went fairly well. In future iterations, I'd be keen to rake the back leg angle further for better stability. I'd also like to experiment further with the top design as there are so many possibilities.