DIY Saddle Bar Stool

How do you feel about having a bar stool or saddle seat bar stool for your garage workspace or woodworking shop? I think that DIYers and even woodworking enthusiasts are buying way too much Made in China stuff and not making enough things ourselves! I can’t tell you how many lure-making shops, garage workspaces, and even high-end woodworking shops I have walked into to find some kind of round shop stool with either a sports team logo or a sort of flames design. Although cool and expensive, not my cup of tea!

I am not much into interior design or fashion, but I know what I like and don’t like! When it came time to buy a shop stool for my garage shop, I had a clear idea of what I wanted, how high I wanted it, and how I wanted it to look! In fact, I had seen many examples online, but since I didn’t need one until now, I had no idea they were as expensive as they are! I have to tell you I was stunned to find out that places like Wayfair, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s sell these things for north of $100. Why is that? Well, I guess you can blame it on demand. I think that seven out of ten people would choose a saddle seat bar stool over an ordinary shop stool, given a choice. With that said, I don’t believe that making a saddle seat bar stool is any more complicated than a regular shop stool, and to prove this, I have decided to build a DIY saddle seat bar stool for my garage shop.

As with any DIY project, and even if you have an idea in your head, doing a little bit of internet browsing for inspiration is always a good idea. As I searched the internet and especially the image library on Google, I became more confident that I wanted a saddle seat bar stool for my garage workspace. Although pricy, I have to admit that Wayfair has the best selection from an anesthetics perspective.  If you are in the market for a saddle seat bar stool and a DIY project is not on your horizon, perhaps you should consider visiting WayFair.Com

I value my DIY saddle bar stool project at $15.00, even though I didn’t spend that much! I figured this would be the rough cost for somebody who had no scrap wood laying around and had to go out and buy everything! I also need to point out that I was not seeking a very polished look, but rather somewhat of a rustic one.

I don’t think making a DIY saddle bar stool is any more complicated than a standard, ordinary round shop stool. As a matter of fact, I found the process from a skill level point of view easier for a beginner like me. Although I have done many different types of woodworking projects like speaker enclosures, subwoofer boxes, fishing lures, and even shelves and cabinets, furniture has never been on my radar.

When I decided to build this DIY saddle bar stool, I when into it with minimal furniture making experience. I was also unwilling to invest in premium wood, which resulted in less than a furniture quality product. Consequently, the construction is very straightforward. The only tricky part for some people might be figuring out the angle for the stringer between the legs. In the video, I have a quick hack on how to get around this.

But to summarize, I used two squares. One to raise the leg to the angle I wanted and the second to draw a drill mark in an angle relevant to the deck surface! That is only necessary on two of the legs. On the other two, it is just a straight hole. Once you have all your holes drilled, it’s just a matter of connecting all the legs with stringers made from 13/16 hardwood dowels; this would later get trimmed flush using a Japanese saw.

When it came to the deck or seating part, I cut a few corners. For one, I used a piece of scrap that had an existing bow on it! Nevertheless, I accentuated the valley with my angle grinder. The most common way to attach the seating deck to the legs is with dowels. However, due to the wood’s low quality and some warping, I was forced to use screws instead. I marked the legs’ placement by placing the leg assembly on top of the seating deck, with the stool in an upside-down position. I then proceeded to mark and drill small pilot holes from the bottom all the way through! I then flipped the deck, right side up, and drilled downward with a deep straight countersinking bit so that I can insert dowels and cover the screw heads at a later day. Although there was quite a bit of wood warping, by forcing the legs into the desired place, I was hoping they will warp back into proper placement after using the saddle bar stool for just a few days! The fact is that even before ever being used, everything came together so well, you can’t tell I forced them into place. For the finish, I picked up a can of Rust-Oleum X2 in a PLUM color, and although I was questioning my decision, it ended up looking pretty good!  I hope you took something away from this build, and I hope you subscribe to the Cuban Redneck DIY Channel since I was so pleased with the result that I will be making more saddle bar stools for our dining area in the future.