April 15, 20215 yr Popular Post That what my Daughter wants built. Something to hang or stand near a wall, and hold a few towels...Ooooh, Kay.. So, hauled a plank to the shop.. No room for a 7' long plank...we have ways.. Clear down on the end...handsaw is working on removing a short piece of scrap.. Was trying to do the splits. Measure from this nice, square, defect free end..about 50" more or less...Was trying to avoid.. This Problem Child...so.. Just missed it. Since I had a more manageable plank, I could use the tablesaw..instead of.. This saw....Needed to straighten out an edge first.. Then rip the remainder into 2 equal sections.. And now I have the 2 sides for the ladder. But, a ladder needs rungs, right... There were 2 boards left over in the shop, reset the rip fence a bit narrower.. A kept out the best 5 of the mess....Now, ladder sides tow in at the top, going from 18" at the bottom, to ~13" at the top..oh joy, angled tenons. First, need an angle to set to..we have ways. . About 18" later, and the other end is laid out, as well. need to set the mitre guage to that angle ( ~12 degrees) And make 10 cuts... Then laid the shoulder cuts... Had to reset things to do the other half of these..then attempt the cheek cuts.. Mitre gauge back to 90 degrees, too.. Then over to the bench, to clean up each tenon... Olde School Ways....small hammer, and a SHARP chisel... So...all 10 tenons are now done...3 hours in the shop, everything now hurts...time to stop for today Stay tuned..
April 16, 20215 yr Author Popular Post Well, I was just going to go back to the shop, and get things set up......Riiiigghhhttt... Set up to do beads, and plane the treads smooth....involved drilling a pair of holes through the tenons... Nobody will see the hole, once the ladder is together, and a lot safer to run planes and a router...This be the underside of the tread, was a bit rough...then run a router along the edges.. For a slight round over. then flip the tread over.. And plane this side smooth. edges can be done over in the vise.. Some needed a wee bit more than others... Now, about them beads....Stanley #45 set up with a #22 bead bit....Set things up for the 1st bead.. Then switch things around, and do the other edge... And a 3rd bead appears down the center....then round the corners a bit...100 grit sandpaper to clean down in the beads... Just a slight round over...repeat the above for the other 4 treads...then sweep the place.. Twas a very busy day... stay tuned..
April 16, 20215 yr Popular Post Clever idea with the holes in the tenons, I'll have to remember that.
April 17, 20215 yr Author Popular Post Treads done...sides are next... Needs the ends cut...the "foot" ends.. Get a bevel cut....the "tops".. 7/8" radius ...then the bandsaw to try to cut one at a time...using the first to layout the second one...then a beltsander to even things out, a bit... Then decided the edges needed Jointed so both sides are the same width...Problem? At 49-1/2" long....I don't think that smooth plane will quite work, so.. "Move over, Shorty..and let a real Jointer work.." 24" long, weighing in at 10 pounds..Stanley No. 8, Type 7....Olde Heft & Hubris himself...however, when I also tried it out as a smooth plane.. had to turn it back over to "Shorty" Mortises....will be a "compound" variety.. Treads sit parallel to the floor, ladder leans into the wall at 12 degrees, sides splay out at 12 degrees...might be "fun" to do? So, today's tasks, after clearing off the top of the bench, was to lay out 10 mortises Carry the angle of the dangle around and mark the other face...then round up the "Usual Suspects" And see about doing a bit of chopping... Show face, first....chop halfway down. I have to follow the lines on the sides, to get the correct angle chopped....the flip this over, and chop from the other face, and do a dry fit... had to mark both faces, as to which was the outside, and which was the inside face...set the 5 treads out where I could grab each one in it's turn... This shows the angles I need to match..or try to One done..next.. 3 out of 5 done...there was a problem with a layout.. A bit too rough to do a layout on..so A few swipes with Shorty fixed that right up...3 done, Breaktime! I also had to stop and resharpen the chisels a bit...Ash is called a Hard wood for a reason... Have 2 more to do... And that will just have to do, for today...3 hours in the shop today, PLUS the 2 last night...may try to get the other 5 done tomorrow...I'm pooped Stay tuned...
April 18, 20215 yr Popular Post 35 minutes ago, steven newman said: may try to get the other 5 done tomorrow...I'm pooped Nice work, but I am exhausted and plan on taking a vacation along with @FlGatorwood
April 18, 20215 yr Popular Post ...So this is why the neighbor makes more $ cutting up wood extension ladders.
April 19, 20215 yr Author Popular Post Ok, late start, today....at 1500hrs.....end time was at 1630 hrs...Started here.. First of 5 mortises, today..was even trying to "time" myself....had 3 chisels to use.. Turned out, I chopped one mortise in 15 minutes....wasn't rushing things, but wasn't loafing around, either... And..at 1330hrs...Short pause to refresh an edge or two.....yes, that IS the hammer I was using...mallet simply bounced off the handle of the chisel..by 1600 hrs.. Had just one more to do... 15 minutes later. Decided to try a full dry fit....hmmm.... Took almost as long to do this, as it did for the mortises...will come back tomorrow ( maybe..that Monday thing..) and start a final fitting of things, I have some other things to do to the sides....may need a pack of wood shims, to better clamp this thing up....and then see about making some wedges... 15 minutes for a mortise? Man, I am getting slow in me old age... Stay tuned.. Edited April 19, 20215 yr by steven newman
April 19, 20215 yr Popular Post 8 hours ago, steven newman said: ( maybe..that Monday thing..) ...Still haven't learned that once you retire everyday seems like a Monday.
April 22, 20215 yr Author Popular Post Hmm, I suppose I had better update this story So..pine shims were bought..$1.69 and tax money....then some Rosewood scrap was turned into a pile of wedges.. I used the bench like a router table.. used a larger round-over bit... And rounded the edges on the two sides....was a bit rough.. Was waiting on a repair....so, the other side was glued up first...while waiting on this to dry... usually, one wedge was enough...glue on the tenon, slide it in place, and hammer the wedge home...no clamps used...this time Couple needed a second wedge..but.. Side #1 is glued up....Side #2 came along later....was a bit rough to get things all set.. Clamped to the bench, pipe clamps to pull things down tight...rung #4 seems a bit long? Just a rustic old ladder....let this sit a day...don't even want to sneeze around it... A day later....clamps came off..S L O W L Y....and nothing flew apart Always a good sign? Then a beltsander, a palm sander, a Spokeshave and that Millers Falls No.9 worked the sides until clean and smooth...got one side done...stain and a rag to wipe it down.....work on the other side....then stain and wipe it down...and fix any spots I missed Then, set this smelly thing aside, to dry a while... Details? Lil'Round Top? Wedged Tenons.... Tread details.... may or may not add a coat of gloss poly to this....we'll see.... Thanks for looking in..
April 22, 20215 yr Popular Post So let me be sure I did not see a mirage. Was that a POWERED router???
April 22, 20215 yr 12 minutes ago, steven newman said: Yep....My Stanley #45 doesn't do Round-overs.... Any thoughts on a slick plane?
April 22, 20215 yr Popular Post 2 hours ago, steven newman said: Yep....My Stanley #45 doesn't do Round-overs.... That's funny I have round overs for my 45.
April 23, 20215 yr Popular Post Sheeesh!!! With all those hand tools, plus power tools, chips, sawdust, shavings, this is exhausting. I am taking the weekend off. Good job there, Mr. Newman. Will see you on Monday. LOL
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.