Bunk Bed Ladder Joinery

[Jim Becker]

I'm curious to hear how others would suggest handling the joinery for the ladder required for the TwinXL over Queen Bunk Bed commission I'm currently working on. The material will be nominally 1"/25mm in thickness (I'm working in metric on this project because it's so Domino focused and I honestly prefer metric at this point) and will be about 5' tall for reference. Your thoughts?

406500

[Charles P. Wright]

I built something similar to replace part of an outdoor playset. I used dados that matched the angle of the ladder on the side rails, then glue and screws. I understand you might not want the screws, but possibly you could use them with a plug depending on the finish.

[Gordon Stump]

I have made lots of horse trailer bed ladders. For some reason I feel a long flat head GRK screw in a dado is the best approach. I did not glue in case it needed a repair. Kids will use the bunk bed ladder like a Pogo stick and also rock it on one leg.406510

[Patrick Varley]

Depending on what you're going for, a through mortise and tenon with a contrasting domino could add an interesting design element. Might also involve making your own dominos though, which may or may not be worth your time.

[mreza Salav]

I'd also use a shallow dado (like 1/4"), and glue/screw and plug. If you don't want the screw/plug, I'm not sure there is enough wood left (maybe 1/2" only?) to use domino instead.

[Jamie Buxton]

I worry about wrack resistance. I’d add a 2”-tall stretcher under each step, and include it in your joinery - screws or tenons or whatever

[Frank Drackman]

I made one last year out of maple. Shallow dado, glue, screwed & plugged. Grandkids have used it a lot with zero negative effects so far.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, this is maple, so it's good to hear your setup worked.

I'm leaning toward the dado solution and can make up a jig setup for my MFT or independently to use a router for that. The ladder will not get "Frequent" use as the bed is going in the client's shore home and they only expect the upper bunk to get used occasionally when their college age son brings a guest for the weekend.

Jamie, I'll likely provide some support to prevent racking, but it will not be required at every step. The ladder will be physically fastened to the bed with steel brackets on whichever side works best for the room layout and that will also help keep it stable.

[glenn bradley]

Option 1 - I'd do what Frank did. Option 2 - Shallow dado and through-domino of contrasting wood.

[Bruce Page]

I would also suggest that you make the ladder rungs level, relative to the ground. It looks like you have them perpendicular to the side rails in your drawing.

[Donn Ward]

I made two sets of bunk beds for my four grandsons...I hung the ladder vertically (no angle), I cut dados (0.25") deep to fit the full size of the tread (0.75") on wide boards...ripped the boards for matching dados. Since I thought the ladder would get a lot of use by the smaller boys, I wanted more than just glue; so I put two screws in each end of all the treads , plugged with dowel material and cut them flush. Over the years the beds have gotten a lot of use, and the beds (including ladders) are holding up very well.

[Simon MacGowen]

Blind or through (easier than blind) dominoes would work well for this type of ladder with angled rungs - twin tenons 10mm x 24mm x 50mm (or 8mm, if centered mortises).

Shallow dadoes (essential for screws and glue) are unnecessary which is extra work for domino joints. Search or ask at the green tool forum for similar domino ladder builds and shop images.

Simon

[Frank Drackman]

Like most projects making the jig took twice as long as cutting the actual dados. For a bit I felt like I was back in tenth grade in plane geometry class.


Frank, this is maple, so it's good to hear your setup worked.

I'm leaning toward the dado solution and can make up a jig setup for my MFT or independently to use a router for that. The ladder will not get "Frequent" use as the bed is going in the client's shore home and they only expect the upper bunk to get used occasionally when their college age son brings a guest for the weekend.

Jamie, I'll likely provide some support to prevent racking, but it will not be required at every step. The ladder will be physically fastened to the bed with steel brackets on whichever side works best for the room layout and that will also help keep it stable.

[Jim Becker]

Option 1 - I'd do what Frank did. Option 2 - Shallow dado and through-domino of contrasting wood.

Contrast doesn't matter...this is a painted project, but the methods are valid.


I would also suggest that you make the ladder rungs level, relative to the ground. It looks like you have them perpendicular to the side rails in your drawing.

It must be the angle of the screen scrape. The rungs are level to the floor surface based on the angle of the uprights.

[Derek Cohen]

Jim, I built a bunk bed and ladder for my son when he was about 10 years old (that was 16 years ago).

As I recall, the flat rungs/steps were held dados ...

https://i.postimg.cc/Px0n77jX/1-Loftbedladderandunit.jpg

An alternative could be a sliding dovetail.

The detail on the steps featured a raised section ...

https://i.postimg.cc/Xq9mz7LL/Ladder2.jpg


Regards from Perth

Derek

[Wes Mitchell]

This beauty (that's an odd, but fitting description for a ladder) was posted not long ago:

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?271153-Loft-Ladder&highlight=ladder