an emergency ladder is needed...
more correctly, a library ladder is needed urgently. me old mate, lovely dave, a carpenter of some distinction, is making a four metre high bookcase that needs a ladder. it must be light, elegant and unobtrusive, and run on a track attached to the top. he concluded it would look too chunky made in wood.
he came into the workshop to take some samples of the sections of steel i'd use just to make sure the clients were happy with what they'd be getting. i got the go ahead a few hours later.
to keep the structure light it was to be made of thin steel tube sections: the treads cut from a 30 x 20 rectangle section and the long uprights from a rather fetching D section. these particular shapes and sizes are only available from one supplier in the uk and not wanting to bore you with the whole story, suffice it to say i very nearly fell out with them in trying to get it.
anyway, following the palaver of getting the specific section of steel in, in time, i set about fabricating the ladder.
as you can see the only available space to make a four metre long ladder was on the floor...
ladder made, i set about making a system for the top to be on wheels to run in a track. again i won't go into the ins and outs of it, but it took a few attempts and a couple of days to get right.
finally, exact height of the bookcase double checked, angle of the ladder defined and bottom cut, filled and ground down to sit squarely on the floor; the steel was cleaned and patinated, all set to go.
my concern was that the height would be wrong, i'd made some adjustment possible, but still...
but it fit... perfectly. so it was waxed and installed.
... and the clients hate it.
so if anyone's interested in a light, elegant, beautifully made four metre library ladder that took nearly a week of my time to get right, nearly cost me a useful steel supplier and ate into my gate deadline, please let me know.
til next time...
