staked saw bench questions

[overland]

I'm building a staked saw bench, although it will really be more of a staked stool to use around the house. I have a couple questions:
1. How high should I make it?
2. The top is about 1 1/2 inches thick. (I've made it out of 8/4 oak.) Is that enough thickness to hold a tapered tenon, or do I need to add a batten of some sort?
3. What angle should the splay of the legs be?

[Anji12305]

If you intend to use it for sawing, no higher than your knee.

If you intend to use it for sitting, chair seat height will do.

The oak should be plenty thick enough, although it will be difficult
to bore by hand. If it was me, I would make it a lamination.

Bore the lower (underside) first and use it as a guide for the top half.
You could even through bore if you laminated on a seat layer.

Pictures, please. This will be an interesting project.

Lastly - isn't there some guideline about grain orientation on the legs?
There's considerable splay force on tenons that long.

[rectangle618]

1. The height depends entirely on what is comfortable for you. Find something in your house or yard (a chair, a bench, a big rock…) that feels right for sawing or sitting or stepping up on – or whatever you plan to do with your staked project – and use that as a guide for height.
2. I did a staked shaving horse out of 2” pine construction lumber. I used battens to increase the thickness. With oak, you might be ok with just the 1 ½”.
3. Splay angle: If the legs angle too far outside the profile of the top, they become a tripping hazard for folks walking past. (Or maybe that’s just my own clumsiness.) Make a half-size model or do several drawings and play around with the leg angles.
Sounds like a fun project.

[JoethePro]

St. Roy just did a staked chair build that you might want to watch. He is using "about" a 1:4 ratio, and insetting the legs 2" - basically enough that they won't be outside the chair's edge and present a trip hazard.


I'll admit to being curious about some staked furniture also - anyone have a tapered reamer that they would like to send my way?

[wmickley]

I use a 14 degree splay. I like a 19 inch sawing bench. You might adjust 1/4 inch or so for each inch you are different from 5'9". Chair height has traditionally been around 17 3/4, which would not be unreasonable for a saw bench as well.

An inch and a half is fine for the top, however 18th century benches often had a short stretcher between end legs and a middle stretcher between the two end stretchers. I like the stretchers high enough that my shoe can go underneath.

I have been researching historic woodworking and making this type of bench since the 1970s but never heard the term "staked saw bench" or "staked stool" before. Do you know the origin?

Warren

[Phil S.]

The legs here are 15° -



I lay them out by making an "X" across the bottom of the seat and measuring the 15° to that line -



The stool is stable and the legs don't extend much if any beyond the edge of the seat. The seat and batten are 3/4" stock so total thickness is about 1-1/8" which is plenty adequate in this application. I've done them in poplar and birch. Your 1-1/2" oak seat should be fine.

JoethePro said:

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...I'll admit to being curious about some staked furniture also - anyone have a tapered reamer that they would like to send my way?

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Lee Valley has tapered reamers that aren't too dear (free shipping right now, too).

Standard



And Pro



and tenon cutters to match.



I got the large standard reamer and the 5/8" tenon cutter for that project I'm going to do one of these days.

[bridger]

My initial thought was to make it as high as your longest handsaw is long. Having never made one though, I can't claim anything beyond a good imagination.

[Anji12305]

That's a handsome piece, Phil.

I like the through tenons and thickness with battens.
Solid wood thicker than 1 1/2" gives me the willies.

kudos

[Bibliophile 13]

a 1 1/2" thick top is just barely thick enough. 2" would be ideal, but you'll probably be okay.

Actual saw benches should be just a little lower than your kneecap. You want to be able to comfortably put one knee on a 2" thick piece of wood on top of the saw bench while your other foot rests comfortably on the floor.

[overland]

A couple people here have suggested a splay angle of 14 degrees, the 4 to 1 that Roy Underhill suggests. But where is the sight line, the line along which the leg is tilted? Is it drawn corner to corner, as one poster here suggests? Or is does it a line that bisects the angle formed by each corner, which seems another possibility? (That way the leg will extend equal amounts to the side and to the front.)