Canoe Camp Stool Project

One of the winter projects I've been working on is a folding, portable camp stool - something that would fit easily into my Woods 200 pack. Ended up inspired by this online tutorial from  Wood & Faulk...

Wood & Faulk Camp Stool

Although I didn't have the exact hardware as the tutorial, some other usable bits were found that worked adequately (3" long, 1/4" carriage bolt with wing nut; 3/16th eye bolt & wingnut). The legs were made from some left over 1-1/4" dowels that were collecting dust in the basement. 2 of the legs in my version are poplar, the remaining leg an older piece of red oak. The assembly pictures & instructions are very clear in the original online tutorial so didn't take pics of those steps.

I don't usually carry a camp chair when paddling but thought this might be a nice compromise. When it's not in use on trips, I plan to use it to do some carving in the backyard. However, instead of using the original tutorial design of bolting the seat permanently to the legs, I wanted a more flexible solution that would also allow just the seat to be removed. Another online tutorial from Willow Haven Outdoors incorporated a design with folded ends where the legs fit by simple friction. This way, as a lighter option,  just the seat could taken with legs fashioned in camp from thick branches lashed together.

I had a nice piece of tooling leather left over from other projects that just fit the bill and fashioned a simple triangular design for the seat on the underside of the leather

Folding legs rigged up and leather template of seat

Kind of got lazy here and decided to use my surplus of copper rivets to secure the end flaps rather than stitching...

Ends folded over and riveted

The test run for the camp stool worked and supports my ever growing weight, but the plain leather seat was just calling out to be decorated....

The basic design

Similar to the Nook eReader case I made back in 2011, I ended up burning a canoe related theme to the seat - this one influenced by my new attempts at canoe poling. The image is from the 1941 etching entitled "Canoe Man" by  Frank Weston Benson (1862 – 1951). 

Canoe Man (1941) by Frank Weston Benson

I thought the scratchy nature of the artwork would work well burned into the leather. The image had to be modified somewhat to fit the triangular dimensions of the seat. Here is the incomplete image being burned...

Burning the image

I while back I was asked about the tools used for decorative pyrography. I use the Canadian made Razortip SK Pyrography machine. Great little contraption that allows for a range in shading tones. Here is the end result of the seat before sealing with a waterproofing conditioner which darkens the leather a bit...

Decoration Complete

The bottoms of the dowels were crudely rounded with a crooked knife so the stool would rock less. To seal the dowels, some left over deck stain was used giving them a warm reddish tint. Here is the stool against another dusting of snow in Toronto.

Canoe Campstool

With the seat removed, the legs collapse back into an easily transported package...

Folded secured legs for storage

So there's another piece of homemade canoe camping gear for the upcoming season.