Recycling a Ladder

Recycling a Ladder

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>This is a simple project (made a little more complex by completing it all with handtools). But it may interest some since it is the project I was busy with when I reviewed the Veritas plow plane (see recent article here).

A little background. About three years ago I built my son, then 12, a loft bed. He really liked this. However, time moved on (as it does) and he is now 15 and has outgrown it. So I decided to convert the loft bed into a Captain�s bed (lower the legs and fill in with drawers). This is in process.

In the meantime my wife asks me to build a bookcase for his bedroom and I, of course, made this simple construction as complicated as can be by trying to be clever. Ah well, the intention was good.

It occurred to me that the ladder from the loft bed could be turned into a bookcase. Here is an old picture.

Here is another picture �

And a little detail �

I began the project by building a dovetailed carcass, Here it is at glue up �

This picture will be familiar as it shows the dados with center divisions being fitted.

Some side detail �

The side uprights of the ladder were curved with a fretsaw and then faired with a spokeshave. Here they are with the template I made to mark the same curve on each side.

Finally, this is what the bookcase came to look like. I think that you can just recognise the old ladder integrated into the front.

And attached with French Cleats above my son�s desk (his bedroom has never looked this tidy before!!).

Thanks for looking.

Regards from Perth

Derek