Wise vise bench.

[Frank S]

I really like the stool idea for a dedicated work station. Especially when tig welding. Most of my projects in recent years have been more of the just get it done so I could return to my primary project. This usually means completely ignore fit and finish since they usually wind up being of the 1 time use category.
The pluses and minuses of an attitude like mine means that I don't spend a lot of time on the specialty tools but at the same time this leaves me with little to show for my efforts as well.
For your stool I would have probably just hacked together something to sit on then gone about my business I would have had function but without form