What you’re building
Most boot jacks are a single narrow board with a notch, and they skid. This one is a 10½-inch-wide platform made from three glued rails, so your standing foot has somewhere to go and the whole thing has enough weight to stay where it’s put. The jaws are two short pieces on edge at the front with a 3-inch gap between them, which fits a work boot heel with a little room. A flat tie across the back end holds the three rails together and gives you a lip to push against with your standing foot.
There’s no angle to cut. The jaws sit 1½ inches off the floor, which is enough for the heel to clear.
Pick the board
Anything straight will do; this is a floor tool. The three platform rails should come from the same stretch of the board so the color matches once it’s oiled. Knots are fine.
Cut
Three rails at 14 inches, the tie at 10½, and two jaws at 5. The tie should match the width of the glued-up platform exactly, so if you’d rather be safe, cut it last, after the glue-up, to the measured width.
Glue up the platform
Lay the three rails side by side, best faces up, growth rings alternating. Glue the mating edges and clamp across the width. Wipe the squeeze-out. Let it sit at least an hour. Sand the top flush.
Attach the back tie
Set the tie flat across the back end of the platform, flush with the end and the sides. Glue it and drive two 2½-inch screws down through the tie into each rail, countersunk. Six screws total. This joint is what stops the platform from ever coming apart, so don’t skip the screws.
Stand the jaws
Measure in 2¼ inches from each side at the front end and mark lines; the jaws sit just inside those lines, standing on their 1½-inch edge, flush with the front. The gap between them should be 3 inches. Check it with a boot. Glue the bottom edge of each jaw, set it on its line, and drive two 3-inch screws up from underneath the platform into each jaw. Flip the platform over to do this, and clamp the jaw while you drive the first screw so it doesn’t walk.
Finish
Ease the top edges of the jaws well; they’re going to catch heels. Round over the front corners of the platform. Oil it or leave it bare. If it’s going on a smooth floor, stick a strip of rubber or a few rubber feet on the underside so it grips.
If something goes wrong
- Heel doesn’t fit. The gap is too narrow for the boot. Sand or plane the inside faces of the jaws, or back the screws out and reset one jaw a quarter inch farther out.
- Jack tips forward when you pull. Your standing foot is too far forward. Put your heel against the back tie.
- Jaw split when screwing. Drill a pilot hole. The jaw is only 1½ inches wide, and a 3-inch screw without a pilot will split it every time.