Daughter wants a what?

[steven c newman]

Have been working on a little project. She wants a "ladder" to hang towels on....it can either lean up against a wall, or be hung up there...Some call it a Blanket Ladder, too...

IF there is some interest, I could post a build thread about my version......

Treads/Rungs....
Compound mortise and tenon joints....

Lots of hand tool work...even right at the start..
Towel Ladder, trim the end.JPG
Using a Disston D-112 to cut a 7' plank down to size...


You might even see Old Heft &Hubris..
Towel Ladder, cordless Jointer.JPG
Jointing a pair of 49-1/2" Ladder sides...

Any interest?

[William Fretwell]

I’ve seen them with blankets on, usually in a store selling blankets. Towels suggest some drying is involved which is a problem when they overlap, hence the ‘rail’ we are all used to. If you have a unique design for this problem, love to see it.

[steven c newman]

ok...Have to start somewhere....hauled a plank to the shop a few days ago....just under 7' long of Ash..Needed an end trimmed off, to get rid of splits and cracks..
Towel Ladder, no room.JPG
As it would be a bit hard to use either of these two....we have ways...
Towel Ladder, start up.JPG
Clamp it into the end vise on the bench....
Towel Ladder, trim the end.JPG
Mark a line that just misses all the bad stuff on that end...
Towel Ladder, scrap.JPG
The saw is a Disston D-112, 7ppi, 26" long, cross cut...fast, clean cut. Needed a 4'+ length, for the sides of the "Ladder", and wanted to avoid a Problem Child..
Towel Ladder, Problem Child.JPG
So...measure down from the just trimmed end..49-1/2"....more or less...
Towel Ladder, beyond the problem.JPG

Missed it by that much, Chief....one edge of the plank wasn't too hateful...set the rip fence on the tablesaw to rip the wavy edge off..
Towel Ladder, straighten an edge.JPG
Then use this freshly ripped edge against the fence, reset to 1-7/8"....run the plank through a couple times..
Towel Ladder, 2 sides.JPG
And these 2 will be the sides (stiles?) of the ladder....

next up, a pile of blanks for the treads
Stay tuned

[steven c newman]

As a result of cutting a couple planks to size...I had a couple shorter planks left over....reset the rip fence to 1-1/4"...and run a few times..trying to get a best pieces...
Towel Ladder, blanks for rungs.JPG
And kept out the five best ones..Rungs will start at~ 18" wide, and wind up, at the top rung about 16" or less....Ganged the 5 blanks up, cut them all to 18" long...then the fun can begin..
Towel Ladder, setting the angles.JPG
bevel gauge set to 12 degrees, or so...mark the ends of the blanks...then set up the mitre gauge on the saw...
Towel Ladder, setting the gauge.JPG
Besides, there is no setting for 12 degrees on my Stanley #358...And..trying to cut all five at once is too much like herding cats....One at a time on the tablesaw..
Towel Ladder, ends cut.JPG
Then reset things to do a shoulder cut, for the tenons...took two set-ups..
Towel Ladder, half the shoulders done.JPG
Because of the angle being used. Do these 10 cuts, reset and do the other 10 shoulder cuts....nibble away the waste while I'm at it...

Reset the mitre gauge back to 90 degrees, tilt the blade to 12 degrees...
Towel Ladder. setting the cheek cuts.JPG
And nibble away the cheek cuts....after each trip from that, the tenon was fine tuned the old school way..
Towel Ladder, Tenon trimmings.JPG
A small hammer, and a sharp chisel....soon, had 10 tenons ready to go....more or less
Towel Ladder, tenons done...JPG

Not too bad of a day's work? Stay tuned...

[Jerry Olexa]

Looking good Steve...Nice to see the tenons shaping up.....

[steven c newman]

Ok...time to go and get some beads. needed a way to safely hold a tread to the bench...while I rounded over the edges, planed both faces smooth, and run the Stanley #45 along an edge, to mill a groove...

Solution? drill a hole in each tenon....other than hold the parts in the vise to smooth the edge grain...
Towel Ladder, needs work.JPG
Everything else needs to be held flat to the top of the bench, close to the edge of the bench.....The 45's fence runs better, that way..
Face that does not get beads...
Towel Ladder, underside needed planed.JPG
aka the underside...once it is smoothed down...the router can run a round-over bit...
Towel Ladder, round the edges.JPG
Then, flip the part over, smooth that face, IF need be...but, wait to do the round over for a little bit...
Towel Ladder, 1st bead done.JPG
As the Stanley #45 needs to cut a couple beads....1st along one edge...then rotate the part and plane the other bead.....IF things are laid out correctly....
Towel Ladder, beads done.JPG
A "center bead" will appear....folded over sandpaper to clean things up in the grooved areas....THEN the router can round-over the edges....tread #1 is done....4 more to do...
Towel Ladder, finished treads.JPG
And that was one evening's work....the hole drilled into the tenons? The hole will be inside the through mortise, out of sight. Plus, a kerf for the wedge can be "stopped" in that hole, if need be..

Tread done. Next task is to layout the mortises they will go into.

Lets see....treads run parallel with the floor...but...ladder sides will lean against a wall at 12 degrees. Ladder sides also splay out at 12 degrees....should be an interesting layout...times 10....
Towel Ladder, Tenon goes here.JPG
Hmmmm..
Towel Ladder, tenon comes out here.JPG

stay tuned....cussing may be involved?

[steven c newman]

Now, about them mortises, spent half of a work session just laying them all out...
Towel Ladder, beveled feet.JPG
First off, the feet needed a "trim", and the tops needed a radius drawn..
Towel Ladder, laying out the circle.JPG
And then cut and sanded until it matched..
Towel Ladder, matching the curves.JPG
While the edges had been jointed with that old No. 8 Jointer,,,there was a few spots needing attention..
Towel Ladder, this won't do.JPG
As stuff like this, makes marking lay out lines a bit...rough....we have ways...
Towel Ladder, clean up tool.JPG

All nice and smoothed out.
Towel Ladder, all the angles laid out.JPG
Then carry the lines around...across the edges..
Towel Ladder, lay out tool, edge work.JPG
With this being the only "square" I could use..
Towel Ladder, mortises laid out.JPG
And, make sure both of the sides match up....

Stay tuned....

[steven c newman]

Roh-kray, Raggy...round up the Usual Suspects..
Towel Ladder, the Usual Suspects.JPG
We have work to do...
Towel Ladder, chopped halfway.JPG
From the "show face", chop about halfway down....using the lines out on the edges as a guide. Then flip the board over, and chop on down through...and try a dry fit..
Towel Ladder, 1st mortise done.JPG
First one is done...only 9 more to do...takes a bit..
Towel Ladder, 3 out of 5.JPG
Soon had 3 done....
Towel Ladder, Breaktime.JPG
had a Pee Break, a Gatorade break, refresh a couple chisel edges, turn the board around and..
Towel Ladder, 5 out of 10.JPG
One side of this "Ladder" is chopped....

after 3 hours in the shop...decided it was quitting time....try again Sunday afternoon, eh?
Towel Ladder, compound mitre cut.JPG
Turns out, I will also need to bevel the beveled feet...might be a bit rough to do...on my Stanley #358 Mitre Box...

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Late start on Sunday afternoon...about 3pm or so....Had the other side of the ladder to mortise....plus, I wanted to "time" myself while doing these mortises..
Towel Ladder, start here.JPG
Starting right here....had a 3 chisel "crew" for today..
Towel Ladder, today's crew.JPG
So....15 minutes later ( about 3:15 pm?)
Towel Ladder, 15 minutes per.JPG
Including the flipping over and re-clamping, and cleaning out the chips...15 minutes later..
Towel Ladder, 2nd one today.JPG
Hmmm, even got a dry fit in both....ok, rotate the piece to the other end....refresh an edge or two...3:33pm...
By 4:00 pm..
Towel Ladder, one more to go.JPG
had one more to do....4:15 pm...
Towel Ladder, last one done.JPG
last one is done, and a dry fit......decided to try all the parts in a dry fit, with a few clamps, to see just how this will go together...
About 4:30 Sunday Afternoon
Towel Ladder, full dry fit.JPG
And decided it be quitting time....hands were getting a bit sore...Uncle Arthur (Itis) was talking..

Need to run to the store, today, and pick up a package of wood shims. I can use them to help hold the clamps steady during the glue-up.

Monday? Shop is normally closed on Mondays. May try Tuesday....have to change a router bit, and round-over the sharp corners of the sides ( easier to grip, right?) and cut a few kerfs for wedges in the tenons.

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Shims have been bought. Monday has gone away. Tasks for today in the shop..

Run a round over bit along all the edges of the ladder sides...sand/plane sides smooth
Bevel bottom of the feet, sand a slight champfer around the bottom of the feet.

Cut kerfs for wedges into the tenons.
Make said wedges
Do a glue up, one tenon at a time...until all 10 are in place...

Shims under the clamps, and clamp the entire mess together..

Go out and pick up a 6 pack of Guinness Extra Stout.....and chill out the rest of the day...

Sounds like a "Plan"?

[lowell holmes]

See this site.

https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=m...r+for+bathroom

[steven c newman]

Thinking is..she may want this in her Kitchen....

[steven c newman]

Tried a little shoptime....everything seemed to want to fight....Wedges were cut..
Towel Ladder, supply of wedges.JPG
With the usual extras..just in case. tenons now have a kerf cut...set up a router table...
Towel Ladder, router table.JPG
Changed to a slightly larger round-over bit..
Towel Ladder, larger bit.JPG
And, rounded over a few edges...
Towel Ladder, round some edges.JPG
Glue and a wedge to install a tread...
Towel Ladder, one wedge,or.JPG
And worked my way along one side of this ladder...
Towel Ladder, side 1 glued up.JPG
Would have started on the other side, but
Towel Ladder, waiting on glue.JPG
Waiting on a chip to be glued back in place....

This was the "easy" part....may need some help with the other glue up....

Stay tuned, cussing is involved, now...

[steven c newman]

Story later today..
Towel Ladder, wavy edge.JPG
letting this sit a day..or three...
Towel Ladder, glued up 1.JPG
Allowing the glue to fully cure..before them clamps come off....don't want this to fly apart...
Stay tuned

[steven c newman]

Beltsander..palm sander...spokeshave....Millers Falls No.9....even ran the router a bit, to refresh a few spots....Clamps came off, did not fly apart....Then, brushed on a coat of stain, once everything was smoothed and cleaned up..wiped things down, and set the ladder aside to dry..
Towel Ladder PIP, front, stained.JPG
Details?
Towel Ladder PIP, side, details.JPG
Wedged tenons....top of the ladder is rounded...Treads?
Towel Ladder PIP, tread details.JPG

Letting this dry, then brush on a coat of Clear Gloss Poly....
Almost done..