DIY Tetris Shop Stool

Whether it's for reaching those just-out-of-reach places, or just to have a place to sit while you work in the shop, a shop stool is essential for any maker. This stop stool just so happens to move around, look like a Tetris puzzle cube, and have a secret compartment for stuff!

Here's how I put it together.

The materials I used:
2 - 8' 4x4
4 - Caster wheels
4 - disc magnets
1 - door hinge
Painters tape
Polyurethane
Acrylic paint

The tools I used:
Miter saw
Table router
Screw driver
Paint sprayer
Paintbrush

I started by cutting the 4x4 boards into:

48 - 3 1/2" cubes
4 - 1" pieces
4 - 1 1/2" pieces

I took the cubes and used a 45 degree bit on the router table, and shaped all the edges of each of the cubes.

I sanded down each cube to make them even and remove any tearouts that happened during the routing stage, and to get the cubes ready to glue together.

To start putting the stool together, I started by gluing together 4 cubes at a time. I then took 5 of the now 4x1 pieces and made an L shape for one side of the stool, then repeated for the other side.

I glued the 4 - 1" pieces into a square, and glued the 4 - 1 1/2" pieces into a square. The 1" square will go on the bottom of the stool, the 1 1/2" square will go on the top.

When both sides of the stool were dry and ready, I brought the 2 L pieces together and glued the bottom 1" square and the top 1 1/2" square inside the L pieces. I glued the last two 1x4 pieces together to make up the door (a 2x4 piece), then clamped everything together to make sure that it was tight while the glue dried.

After it was dried, I took sand paper and sanded down all the angled edges of the cubes, evening out any areas that needed it.

I printed out a box template on a piece of paper, and drew out the 4x4 cube design of the stool, then colored in the box with Tetris L, T, square, J, S, and Z pieces. It took me two attempts to get it so there were no blank spots.

Using my colored paper box as a reference, I watered down some acrylic paint and started transferring the Tetris pieces layout to the stool.

Once the paint was dry, I flipped the stool on it's head, then added and screwed down the 4 caster wheels to the bottom corners, and screwed the door hinge between the 1" square in the middle and the 4x2 piece that will act as a door.

I flipped it over, then drilled holes big enough for the 4 magnets (2 in the door piece, and 2 in the 1 1/2" square piece), and glued the magnets in place. Even though the door fits pretty tight, I wanted the magnets there to ensure that the door stays closed when I need it to.

The last step was to add some clear matte polyurethane to the stool. I taped up the hardware on the bottom of the stool, then used a paint sprayer to spray 3 layers of polyurethane onto the stool.

Now that it's done, I had a stool that I could use around the shop, wheeling around to different areas that I needed to, and could hide a snack or tools in the center of the stool to use later!

Now you know how to do it, watch it being made!

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