Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

The ladder is made of cherry and walnut, with no metallic
fasteners. All the joints are blind dovetail and pinned with
dowels turned from walnut. The difficulty lay in the THREE angles
to be considered: the ladder's steps needed to be level when it
was leaned against the bookcase shelves, the ladder was flared
outward rear-to-front and was tapered from top to bottom. The
top of the ladder has a flat walnut piece with a hole in it that
permitted me to hang it from one of several walnut pegs I mounted
on stiles in the library shelving. To prevent the flat piece with
a hole in it from splitting, it was formed from handmade walnut
3-ply layup. Where it rested against the shelves, I partially
inlaid leather strips on the back to prevent scarring either the
ladder or the shelves. The steps were routed with 1/4" grooves
and inlaid with walnut dowels for traction. The 4 cherry stiles
making up the "vertical" pieces were separated by walnut
handholds.

The ladder was a bit heavy for pure utility, but I felt that the
looks made up for that. As you can also see from the scars in the
finish, the ladder got good use over the years.

--
Nonny

What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressman's mouth?

The floor is level.

Nonny wrote:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.


Very nice looking project. Given all the considerations, I can see how
that would take some time.



--

There is never a situation where having more rounds is a disadvantage

Rob Leatham

On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the
bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

I'd been drinking the shellac thinner, Larry. grin

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the
bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

I'd been drinking the shellac thinner, Larry. grin

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the
bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

I'd been drinking the shellac thinner, Larry. grin

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:05:03 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the
bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

I'd been drinking the shellac thinner, Larry. grin

Oh, you mean to tell me that those were design elements?

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:05:03 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:


"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:35:30 -0800, the infamous "Nonny"
scrawled the following:

Surprisingly few photos remain of what I consider my most
difficult project. While it wasn't the biggest or fanciest, it
took the most thought and planning to build. It was a ladder to
reach the upper shelves in my library. I wanted it to be sturdy
and of furniture quality, but also something I could move around
easily and would store out of the way.

Pretty nice, Nonny.

Hmm, what's that? Oh, too bad you had to cut the angles on the
bottom
wrong...twice. Backward once, huh? gd&wvvf

I'd been drinking the shellac thinner, Larry. grin

Oh, you mean to tell me that those were design elements?

--
To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson