How to make a Rustic Stool with Hairpin Legs

Curious about how you can create your very own rustic stool? Here at Unique Metal Craft, we offer our valued customers our incredible range of hairpin legs that are the perfect addition to any creative home project to help make your interior or exterior look and feel that bit more personal to you!

One of the many applications our hairpin legs are popularly used for is rustic stools.  As such, we have created a tutorial for those looking to add a more rural and homely touch with our versatile range of hairpin legs.

What you will need:

• Measuring tape
• Piece of wood
• Hairpin legs
• Jig saw or Coping saw
• Drill
• Painter’s tape
• Sandpaper
• Screws
• Wood finish

Step 1: Choose your Hairpin Legs

With Unique Metal Craft, we offer an extensive range of custom options for our wide selection of hairpin legs. Choosing the right amount, size and colour of your brand new legs is paramount to achieving the desired rustic look. As such, we recommend the following colours: metallic silver, black, rust, antique black copper and mahogany brown. However, we also offer many other outstanding shades of colour that could easily act as a purposeful contrast to the more neutral and rustic piece of wood that you decide to utilise for this project.

We also recommend selecting hairpin legs that can appropriately account for your leg length when sitting down. As such, we advise measuring your own legs whilst sitting down, allowing you to choose one of our many sizes with confidence.

Step 2: Choose your piece of wood

Decide on your preferred piece of wood for your rustic stool. For an undeniable rustic aesthetic, utilising timber is the best way to go. Anything from pine, red oak, walnut to hard maple, alder and even reclaimed wood will deliver a genuine rustic look that achieves the desired aesthetic.

Once you have decided on your go-to piece of wood, ensure that the piece itself is big enough to be cut down into a thick circle that can fit at least 3 hairpin legs. Suppose your chosen piece of wood is too thin or not big enough to account for a downsized circle. In that case, we also recommend utilising multiple planks of the same wood that you can then glue adjacent and on top of each other to achieve the desired size and thickness for your finished rustic stool.

Once you are happy with your preferred piece of wood, cut it into a circle of your desired circumference (we do advise ensuring that the circle is big enough for you when sitting down for comfort). We advise using a jig saw, coping saw or something similar to cut around the piece of wood on a flat surface, such as a sturdy table.

Don’t worry if the circle comes out jagged or uneven – we recommend sanding the cut piece down with sandpaper for a smooth and even finish.

Step 3: Mount your Hairpin Legs

The next step is installing your hairpin legs onto your cut piece of wood.  To do this, place your hairpin legs upon your desired placement, and mark the screw holes with a marker.

Next, attach painter’s tape to your drill bit so that it matches the length of the needed screws you will utilise to mount the hairpin legs. This is done to ensure that the screw holes are at the optimal length and circumference without compromising the fitting of the legs or the integrity of the wood. Screw in your hairpin legs to ensure a tight fit.

Step 4: Finish your Rustic Stool

Ensure that your hairpin legs have been correctly fitted. Test them by placing considerable weight upon them, ensuring that they can withstand a person’s typical bodyweight without any cause for concern regarding your stool’s strength. Once you are happy and confident with this, it’s time to coat your stool with a wood finish of your choice. For a rustic finish, we recommend utilising a darker wood stain to bring out the natural blemishes and markings of your wooden piece; however, this is completely up to preference.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Once the finish has completely dried, you can finally pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Here at Unique Metal Craft, we absolutely encourage our valued customers’ creative endeavours, especially when we can help out in creating a brand new, homemade rustic stool that you can proudly use and show off to friends and family alike.

To find out more about our incredible range of hairpin legs and what else you can use them for, simply get in touch with us today!