Introduction: Plywood and Stick Ladder

About: Tim Anderson is the author of the "Heirloom Technology" column in Make Magazine. He is co-founder of www.zcorp.com, manufacturers of "3D Printer" output devices. His detailed drawings of traditional Pacific I…

Need a ladder? Screw and glue two sticks to a piece of plywood and cut holes in it for your feet.

Warning: As the sign says, these wooden feet tend to slide on the floor, so make arrangements to prevent that. Actually, ladders are all dangerous. I cringe when I see them on "funniest home movies" because I know something horrible is going to happen.

I used a clear 2x4 ripped in half for the sticks and 3/4" plywood for the rest of it.
The treads are 12" apart vertically and the holes are 10" wide.
The ladder is 16" wide. I would make another with exactly these dimensions.
This plywood is cheap so there are voids, and some of the treads seem weak.
Those will get reinforcing sticks across the bottom of the treads.

Step 1: Cut the Holes

I sketched the outlines with a pencil and ruler. For the curved top corners I used a lid from a tub of grout.
Then I drilled a hole inside that and cut along the line with a jigsaw. Then I rounded off the corners with a router and a quarter-round bit.

If you've got a sawzall you can do a plunge cut and skip the drilling. If you're feeling organized and like routers a lot you can make a template and do the whole thing with a router.

I could have used a stencil to draw the holes but after I drew the horizontal and vertical lines there wasn't much left to draw.

Step 2: Add the Sticks

I used yellow wood glue and drywall screws to attach 2"x2" (nominal. actually 1.5"x1.5") sticks on the edges of the plywood. Then I used my router and quarter-round bit to round off all the remaining edges.

The finished ladder. It's gotten a lot of compliments and hasn't hurt anyone yet. Use strong plywood and sticks. If you leave it outside finish it accordingly or it'll turn to cheese.

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