I wanted to experiment with plywood patterns. I had some Baltic Birch plywood left over from a cabinet, so I decided to make a shop stool. Usually, when I build things I make detailed drawings, but for this one I decided to wing it.

I cut a bunch of matchbox sized pieces, and after some messing around I decided I liked a herringbone pattern. I added a few pieces of walnut and purple heart to make it more interesting. I then slowly glued up a panel.

Once I had my panel glued up and flattened, I needed to shape the seat. I briefly considered a "tractor seat" shape, but I never found those very comfortable so I decided against that. Ultimately I decided to simply dish out the middle, and I used the CNC router for that.

At this point, my glue up was a little too thick, so I decided to thin it down a bit. I also decided to add a round pocket on the bottom to accept the leg structure.

The best way I've found for holding interesting shapes on a router is using a jig that gets cut in place. This lets me accurately position features on parts and also provides good holding power.

For my jig, I used some scrap MDF someone else made a sign out of and cut a circle in the middle. Then I used some window shims to wedge the circle around my workpiece.

I decided to use EMT conduit for the legs. I started by forming a top and a bottom hoop on the ring roller. I had to be careful to sneak up to the right size so the top ring would fit into the receiving pocket under the plywood top.

I then notched out some more conduit for the legs, and welded it all together. There were some voids that needed filling, so I used some epoxy and took care of that before sanding the top.

Here is the end result after sanding and finishing:

After about a year, the stool is holding up pretty well and still looks great aside from some wear and tear.