Do it yourself Seiza stool

Avshalom Binyamin

For the do-it-yourselfer readers of the forum, here's a little design I made for a folding seiza stool. I adapted a design I found online, which had legs on the outside, which folded to the center. This design has legs on the inside that fold out.

Ingredients:
One 34" plank of nominal 1 by 8 inch plank (really 3/4" by 7 1/4") available from your local hardware store.
Two 3" hinges
One 6" section of 1.5" by 1.5" wood (or something similar) for the center piece
Twelve 0.5" number 8 screws (based on hinges with 3 holes per side)
Two 1.75" number 8 screws (for attaching the center piece of wood. If you use a different size for this, vary the length of these screws appropriately)

Mark off and saw as in the drawing. The 20" section becomes the seat, and the two angled pieces become the legs.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8138/seizaboard.jpg

Sand the corners off the seat plank
Sand the square ends of the legs as needed to fit flush against the underside of the seat
Sand, route, or chisel small mortises into the underside of the plank and the the square ends of the legs, to provide clearance for the hinges
Drill pilot holes for your screws, and assemble.

Here are pictures of my unfinished, assembled prototype. It works great!

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4805/1001691z.jpg
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6008/1001692j.jpg
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/3161/1001693v.jpg
http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/4757/1001694o.jpg
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4827/1001695s.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6190/1001696i.jpg

Anonymous

Hmm... Wery, wery, interestinggg...

Thanks. I've never seen one of these before.

Avshalom Binyamin

Thanks.

I've been doing a lot of hindu squats, hiking, and bicycling, so my legs kind of muscle-bound at the moment, which has made sitting in seiza or dragon pose a little uncomfortable.

They're pretty simple and handy, and you can find lots of different models online for about $50-100 (you can search amazon for "Seiza bench").

Avshalom Binyamin

Thanks!

Kraven

Ah, this is awesome! I want to make one now. Nice work!

atlantis

Great stuff!

I have been thinking of making something a bit different, with backsupport for workings that stretch over a period of days.

Use it well! Great that you wanted to share your invention

Avshalom Binyamin

Thanks Kraven and Atlantis.