Looking for a craft kit for an assemble-yourself footstool with woven raffia top.?

Question

When my handicapped son was in the Boy Scouts in the 1960s, he made a footstool from a kit. Wooden precut pieces assembled into an open-top stool, and material was provided to weave the top - a kind of raffia-like material. He'd like to make another (the original was lost during a move) but we've looked in every craft shop in the area, and I've seached the Internet, without success. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Kits like this have lost popularity, and might not be for sale in the big chains any more, but might come back any time.
In the mean time, you can try to get a stool like it in a yard sale and re-cover it.
You can ask a local wood worker if he can make something for you, from your description and to the measurement you supply. Depending on the shapes it would be a job for an (amateur) wood turner or a cabinet maker.
Maybe one of your local wood shops, building suppliers or Do it yourself shops have a place to advertise for help wanted.

For the covering of the top, try sea-grass, rush or new-rush, this is an UK site, but I am sure they sell something like this in the USA too:
http://www.homecrafts.co.uk/html/product.asp?cat1=4&cat2=480&cat3=2080

Here are some sites showing how to do it:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/woodworking/1273016.html
http://www.upholster.com/howto/rush-weaving.html
http://www.wickerwoman.com/seatweaving.html

I also found a website where they sell kits, but it has an UK address, and might not help you at all:
http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/trolleyed/8/104/index.htm

You can contact any of the people selling covering materials for help buying the stool, they often have contacts and are willing to help out people, specially if it means they can sell you the materials.

Answer 2

Woven Footstool

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

look up boy scout stool kit