Step stool with quick adjust legs

When storing things high up in the shop a step tool will help make thing easier to reach. Building a sturdy and safe stool is important. This one has a special feature, it has legs that fold in and out.  
                                   

Cutting all the pieces is easy using a table saw. I used 3/4" plywood. The height of the stool will be 10" and with the additional legs it will stand  at 15" 

 

I used my new bevel gauge I made in my last video, it sure came in handy for this project. 

After I marked the sides at 10 degrees I used a mitre gauge and tablesaw to make the cuts. 

To make the legs I first glued 2 pieces of plywood together to make a thicker piece, 1 1/4". This will help make the legs stronger. I drew and cut one leg then traced 3 more. This can be done either with a jigsaw or bandsaw.

A 3/4" Forstner is used to drill the sides, these holes will be for the magnets.

Now the legs are drilled, this will be for the washers. They must line up exactly with the magnets on the sides.  Later when the stool is assembled these holes may have to be drilled deeper to get the right pressure for the magnet attraction. Too much and the legs wont drop and having too little the will fall too easily. You may have to tweak this, but it is easy.   

Here  holes are drilled for the carriage bolts, they will match the holes for sides as shown below. 

The magnets can be glued in with Gorilla glue. I have used this many times and never had a problem.

The top is 17 1/2 x11". After it was cut I marked the centers and  used a 1 1/4" Forstner bit and a jigsaw to cut the slot for the handle. 

Here the pieces are laid out and ready for assembly.

 
I used drywall screws to assemble the main box and top. No brad nails or glue was used in case I needed to take it apart to make adjustments for the extended legs. 




                        
                                  See the video here

See also:

                         Scissor Lift                            Mini Bevel Gauge