A new project

[Leon]

Do you have a picture of your Library?

[Leon]

Yes two, 3 drawer units, made out of real wood. ;~) The 5 drawer steel case cabinet is.... steel....with a lovely fake walnut paint job. Almost as nice as genuine Naugahyde.

Did you see the drawing? ;~)

I'll build the ladder with my own wood. And it is starting to look more like a ladder that is placed rather than rolled into place. Sooooo much more inexpensive.

Not with a rolling ladder, those are approximately 16" wide/narrow and then wheels fit on the outside bottom about 8" each. With that in mind the ladder assembly is wider at the bottom.

Set into dado's and reinforced with a threaded rod/bracket to keep the sides of the ladder from spreading apart.

Steps, something relatively comfortable to stand on rather than simply climb up.

Typically steps all the way except for a spindle as the last at the top.

That will depend on the kit.

Probably not unless yu are speaking on the reinforcement. No detail on any of this yet.

Most are bare ended.

[J. Clarke]

Just a thought, but check around the malls and find a closed Walden Books--see if the ladders are still in place and if so what you have to do to snag one.

[Electric Comet]

the construction is very nice has a nautical look to it

or you could go the rustic route and use some small timbers for the ladder rails

[woodchucker]

The nice thing about the setups, is that the ladder can be pushed up against the wall or shelves perpendicular to the floor. Then pulled out to support you.

While expensive, it's actually space saving. The double wheel option appears safer than the loop over that Rockler sells. And has the advantage of supporting the ladder while 90 degrees.

[Scott Lurndal]

Not yet, I just rebuilt the ladder last spring, but real-life intruded on finishing the library remodel :-(.

[Scott Lurndal]

I suspect that's where mine originally came from.

[Leon]

Nice looking but probably nit practical. The ladder needs to be relatively close so that you can reach the book case on the lower shelves too.

Since it is unlikely that any step past the third from the floor will be used to stand on, we will only need to be able to reach to 10' I will more likely go with something like this but taller.

[nailshooter41]

Unless you hug the cabinets you will be losing a lot of space in the room dedicated to a ladder you will probably not use often. What kind of floor do you have in that room?

Robert

[Leon]

I intend for the ladder to be out far from the cabinets. Most likely it will be out of the way when not being used. I suspect that I will remove the ladder and place it on the side of one of the cabinets.

Ceramic tile floors on the entire down stairs section of our house.

[nailshooter41]

Seems like you have already come up the best solution. Thinking that it wi ll probably not be used often and then the fact that you won't be going too high, I was thinking of some kind of rolling affair, but when looking at y our Sketchup rendition and knowing you have ceramic floors, a simply movabl e ladder would be the best and easiest solution. $1000 is a lot to spend f or something that might be used just a few times a year.

Robert

[Leon]

The rolling ladder was considered for the wow factor should we ever sell our house and leave the unit here. $1000 is a really big amount for a wow factor. Yes I like expensive Festool tools but they pay for themselves. ;~)

[Ed Pawlowski]

Don't get stuck with old technology. I've seen used forklift truck as low as $500. With a man cage on the forks it would give a great wow factor. Reduces the risk of a fall from the ladder too.

[Leon]

IIRC those require two people, one to take the ride, one to operate. ;~)

[Electric Comet]

on a theme similar to the fork lift idea

[Leon]

There you go! May be I 'll just build a 12' long cat walk, 3' above the floor. LOL

[Kevin Miller]

On 10/14/2015 11:49 AM, Leon wrote: snip

That's what your wife is for...

[Electric Comet]

How about placing a rod similar to the ladder tread idea across the front of each shelf. Concealed of course under the shelf front. Permanent ladder. Dual-purpose shelf/ladder.

[OFWW]

Rockler sells the hardware for a decent price.

I saw a ladder for libraries by Ben Franklin of Thomas Edison that folded up like a collapsible " Z" A few months back. It may have been here, took virtually not room when not in use and stuck in a corner, or laying on the Floor. I did a search but I couldn't find it to day.

[Leon]

I think the company that actually manufactures the hardware that Rockler sells is the one that also offers the fold up ladder.