Andrew Coholic with Shop Stool

Forty-two percent of judges agreed that Alex Leslie’s T-stool was The Most Daring Designand for that, he won a 1-year subscription to Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement from Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement Magazine.
He had an interesting description of his design, too.
The art of balancing and pivoting on this stool keeps the user alert and awake. If one dozes off, the resulting fall will either awaken the user or cause more prolonged unconsciousness.

David Picciuto’s clean-looking plywood stool joined with pocket hold screws was judged as having the Best Use of Materials, earning him a Set of 3″ Bench Dogs from Time Warp Tool Works.
David Picciuto with Shop Stool

Danny Siggers’s design was voted the Most Innovative Among Canadian Stools. For that, he won a Shockwave Drilling & Driving 35-piece Bit Set from Milwaukee Tool.
Danny Siggers with Shop Stool

Sixty-three percent of the judges thought that Chris Salter’s description of his stool was theMost Critical, with the Best Attitude. For that, he was awarded a 1-Year Membership to The Wood Whisperer Guild courtesy of Marc Spagnuolo. His description was also one of the most entertaining:
Is there a “painfully amateur” category? Cuz if so, I’m totally rockin’ that. Otherwise you can probably use my entry as a dire warning for others. :-) Still – a ton of fun.
A few words about my stool: Look, it’s a terrible stool. I’m confident that it’s the worst of the build-off by far, but I don’t care because my whole reason for joining in was to have fun, try new things, and learn. By those criteria, I definitely succeeded.
Rock on, Chris! I love your attitude and willingness to push your abilities.
Chris Salter with Shop Stool

Judges decided that Jonathan Gunderlach’s wild-looking stool earned the title of Best Representing Hand Work, and awarded him his choice of any 1 semester of The Hand Tool School from The Hand Tool School.
Jonathan Gunderlach with Shop Stool

The triangular intersection of mortise and tenon joints employed by Sean Wisniewski earned him 38% of the judges’ votes for Most Impressive Joinery and a 1-year subscription (or extension) to Popular Woodworking Magazine, courtesy of Popular Woodworking.
Sean Wisniewski with Shop Stool

Ryan Sparreboom’s burl-seat stool attracted 60% of the votes for the Best Use of Materials Among Canadian Stools and earned him a Shockwave Drilling & Driving 35-piece Bit Set from Milwaukee Tool.
His stool also edged out Jonathan Gunderlach’s as the Most Organic and for that, he won a Set of 3″ Bench Dogs from Time Warp Tool Works.
Ryan Sparreboom with Shop Stool

On the international level, 15% of the judges also thought Alexandre Guertin’s stool was theMost Inspiring, so he also earned a Make a Wooden Smoothing Plane with Scott Meek DVD from Scott Meek Woodworks.
Naturally, that made his design the Most Inspiring Canadian Stool as well, so he won a Shockwave Drilling & Driving 35-piece Bit Set from Milwaukee Tool, too.
Judges also voted his stool as the Second-Best Canadian Stool, so he will receive a  Porter Cable 20V Lithium Ion Drill from Black & Decker.
Alexandre Guertin with Shop Stool

Jim Dillon won a copy of Marc Spagnuolo’s book, Hybrid Woodworking, courtesy of Popular Woodworking for these two updates which Best Defined “Hybrid Woodworking“.

Jim’s stool was also deemed to have the Best Concept, earning him a Set of 3″ Bench Dogs from Time Warp Tool Works
12b

The judges loved the creativeness and ingenuity shown by Trevor Green. His stool with vise and folding step earned him 57% of judges’ votes for the Most Innovative Design and a signed copy of Quality is Contagious: John Economaki & Bridge City Tool Works, 36 Years Through the Lens of Joe Felzman courtesy of Bridge City Tool Works.
Trevor Green with Shop Stool

With an impressive 8% of all votes from the public, Jamie Hubbard’s elegant, adjustable-height stool is the Flair Woodworks Reader’s #3 Choice. Microjig will be sending him a GRR-Rip Block (GB-1).
Jamie Hubbard with Shop Stool

Garnering 15% of the official judges’ votes and 13% of the readers’ votes, Sean Rubino’s stoolwon a Spokeshave kit from Hock Tools and Advanced GRR-RIPPER (GR-2000) from Microjig as the Second Best Stool Overall and Flair Woodworks Reader’s #2 Choice.
Sean Rubino with Shop Stool

The big winner was a stool which stood out in design and quality of craftsmanship. It won:
*Because this is a duplicate prize, the item was awarded to the runner-up in the category.
Neil Cronk with Shop Stool

Remember that you can view all the stools from this page. Click on any number to view the stool and read about it.
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3 THOUGHTS ON “RESULTS FROM THE SHOP STOOL BUILD-OFF

  1. Great to see so many of the stools recognized for their relative merits. Great job all! And kudos to Chris for putting this all together.
  2. It’s humbling to be included on this page, alongside such truly excellent woodworkers. I’m quite grateful to Chris Wong for all the hard work he’s done to make SSBO happen. Thanks!