Shorten Bar Stools with Metal Legs – Cut Precisely and Evenly

Uncharted Steve 01/07/2020 0 DIY Projects Bar stools, DIY, furniture, kitchen, metal, stools

Shorten Bar Stools with Metal Legs - Cut Precisely and Evenly The Goldilocks principal and the metal legged bar stools – Too tall, too short or just right

The problem:

Wayfair.com had bar stools that we really liked and had great reviews, but they could only be adjusted to 24″ or 29″. There was no adjustment in between. You know, the “Goldilocks” problem of too high or too short. And for us, 26.5″ was just right.

Yes, I could have probably cut the too-tall legs down using a hacksaw. However, since we bought 6 of these stools, I’d have to cut 24 legs by hand! Getting through even one leg was really tough.

Fiddler crab with one giant claw from cutting metal bar stool legs by hand

This would have been me, with one giant and sore arm after cutting 24 metal stool legs by hand with a hacksaw

My search for ways to cut all of these metal stool legs, and have them all exactly the same length, was unsuccessful. I found a lot of information on cutting wood stools, but not much for metal. Last thing I wanted was crooked, wobbly stools!

I didn’t want to purchase a dedicated (and expensive) metal-cutting miter saw, and simple chop saws only cut at 90 degree angles. The miter saw I already have is only meant for cutting wood, so it doesn’t have any clamping system to hold the work down.

The solution:

I experimented and came up with a pretty simple way to tackle this project.

After much research, I discovered a metal-cutting blade designed for handheld circular saws. I decided to try using it in my miter saw since it would be running at similar speed. I found one for around $10 at Home Depot and figured that if it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be out a lot of money.

Disconnecting the built-in guard on the saw and making a simple cutting jig, I was able to use the tools I already had and now the stools are just right!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, I may earn a small commission on items bought using them. These are the same recommendations I would make regardless of any compensation. For products that I have older versions of, I recommend the items that I would replace them with if I were buying them new.

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These are the tools I used in this project. You do not need all of them, so feel free to substitute with tools you have available.

FINDER 8″ Semi Round Hand Rasp File Set with Rubber Grip

From Amazon
Instead of, or in addition to the bench grinder above

stools