Building a Sapele loft ladder. Stock is 6/4, 8" wide, and 14' long....comes skip planed to reveal the grain and 1 "semi-sq" edge. Price is excellent and stunningly beautiful. Challenge is ladder must be 12'....I have a TS and jointer, but not have enough space in my shop for 12' materials. Unfortunately, the yard has no machines so they can't help.
Design is ships ladder of sort with built in oval grips along its length - grips machined with a forstner bit/jig saw/roundover...dados to be used to attach treads. My goal is no mechanical fasteners.
Options
1...Find a shop to machine the rails sq/flat and leave the side rails on 12' length.
2...Try to get rails sq/flat with hand tools, but I highly doubt I have the skills.
3...Cut to rails to 6' lengths, machine and use joinery....possible lap joint
Everything points to option 3 to me, but not sure. If I placed the joint in the "riser" area between the treads, which will also be glued, will a joint be strong enough in the end? What do ya'll think?
This is about what I'm going to build:
Loft Ladder.jpg
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