Cut Down Stool Legs Evenly With Screwed-On Rail Guides

The Problem

Secondhand stools and chairs are often an inch or two too tall for the counter or island they end up at. Taking that height off means removing exactly the same amount from all four legs — and if the legs splay, the cuts also have to land parallel to the floor, not square to the leg. Marking a line around each leg at the right height and cutting freehand is how you end up with a wobbly seat and three more "corrective" cuts that make it shorter and still wobbly.

The Technique

1. Set the stool on a flat surface and work out how much height to remove.
2. Cut four scrap battens, each long enough to span a pair of legs.
3. Sandwich one pair of legs between two battens — one batten on each side — and screw them together through to clamp the legs. Position them so the battens' top edges sit at the cut height: measure up from the flat surface at both legs so the edges are the same distance off the floor.
4. Repeat on the other pair of legs.
5. Saw across each leg with the saw plate riding the batten edges. The rails hold the blade at the cut height and at the correct angle to the leg, so every cut lands parallel to the floor.
6. Unscrew the battens. The small screw holes end up low on the legs where nobody sees them — or fill them if the piece is getting refinished.