This is the design of my very first wood-working project (picture above).  With Jen and I being little people, we tend to rely pretty heavily on step stools strategically placed around the house.  We have about 9 or so of these nice wood ones that we use pretty exclusively. They’re the right height, pretty portable, and strong enough that we don’t feel in danger. Unfortunately, after a year or so they start to get loose and eventually collapse.  With each costing $25-30, replacing them gets old quick.  So, I put my engineering skills to work and designed something that I thought would be simple to make and hopefully fix some of the weaknesses of the other design.  For example, the previous stools had 24 joints, my design has 8.  In the old design only 4 of the 24 used screws. With my design, all 8 use screws.

Speaking of screws…I discovered this little magic tool called a Kreg Jig.  I actually discovered it a few years ago while I was at my brother-in-law’s house.  It was laying on his bench and when I asked about it, I remember him saying something like “it’s the greatest thing ever”.  Fast forward a few years and I’m hearing the same thing from other sources, namely Ana White, Young House Love, and Family Handyman.  So…I bought the Kreg Jig Jr to start.

Ok.  So..here we go…my first wood working project.  Who’s excited?