Shogi

[Deleted]

It's been a long while since I made some time to go down into the basement and bang on wood. This weekend I finally got sick of it and headed down to make something I've been wanting for a while. Behold, my new shogi stool.

While folding camp stools look fine, are widely available, and are quite affordable; when you get into the details, true shogi are noticeably different.

• They tend to be a bit taller, roughly 18" instead of roughly 12".
  
• The crossbars are at the very bottom of the legs instead of most of the way down.
  
• The crossbars usually seem to be round instead of square in cross section.
  

I took a few short cuts on this project, because I really wanted it to be a one day project: there are marks on the wood from the circular saw, the wood is completely unfinished, the "hinge" hardware is zinc-plated stuff from Lowe's, and the sewing on the seat was not planned very well.

On the up side: the verticals are mortised into the crossbars, the cross bars are nice sturdy 1.25" dowels, the fabric is a swanky color of heavy duck, and the crossbars are "reinforced" with brass strips like I have often seen in photos.

Anyway, now I have a shogi to take to events.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I have a whole pile of little camp stools, but you're right about the details making the difference. Your shogi looks great!

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2011 11:11:47 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

I have a whole pile of little camp stools, but you're right about the details making the difference. Your shogi looks great!

Yeah, I noticed in the picture you posted the other day that you had enough for your guests, more serving as table supports, and a small stack remaining off to the side. Making that many at home would be quite an investment, so I'm glad that reasonable substitutes are so available.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Oct 31, 2011 7:41:17 GMT -5 @ishiyama said:

Yeah, I noticed in the picture you posted the other day that you had enough for your guests, more serving as table supports, and a small stack remaining off to the side. Making that many at home would be quite an investment, so I'm glad that reasonable substitutes are so available.

The ones holding up the table are actually $5 plant stands from Ikea.
A couple of the stools came from Walmart, however, they no longer carry them. The rest are from a Civil War sutler called Blockade Runner and those run around $15 or so. Oak frames, canvas seats and sturdy enough to seat some fairly large guests for whom ground seating is not a comfortable option.

[Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa]

I also have a couple of the Blockade Runner seats, at Saionji-hime's recommendation. They're nice, but they'll never look quite as right as yours.

I always admire how much you pay attention to getting the little finishing details right. The brass straps and the location of the crossbars gives this so much more kick.

[Deleted]

Oct 31, 2011 8:07:29 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

A couple of the stools came from Walmart, however, they no longer carry them. The rest are from a Civil War sutler called Blockade Runner and those run around $15 or so. Oak frames, canvas seats and sturdy enough to seat some fairly large guests for whom ground seating is not a comfortable option.

Around here, many people get them at Panther Primitives ( www.pantherprimitives.com/ ) who are based in West Virginia, but come to Pennsic every year, and do mail order. Their camp stools list for $12, and are topped with sturdy tent canvas.

Panther's tents are pricey, but worth every penny, by the way.

[Deleted]

Oct 31, 2011 10:45:25 GMT -5 Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa said:

I always admire how much you pay attention to getting the little finishing details right. The brass straps and the location of the crossbars gives this so much more kick.

The brass strips were actually pretty easy. There is a company called "K&S Engineering" that makes precision metal products for modeling, and they sell brass strips that are already 1/2 inch wide and 12 inches long. All I had to do was drill a half dozen holes in each, bend it around a piece of scrap dowel, and then nail it in place with brass escutcheon pins from the hardware store.

[Deleted]

I made a couple more of these. They should be handy at Pennsic.

I figured out some nicer looking hinge hardware. I cut down some brass-plated hinge pins and cross-drilled them to make clevis pins. Follow the picture's link for some close-ups.