Project Information
This was a present for my wife so that she can reach the highest shelves in the built-ins I did for our Master Closet. It was a Valentine's Day present…that I finished in September…a little late…
Most of the parts are oak, with contrasting walnut for the steps. The steps swivel on a piece of 3/8" threaded rod that spans the two vertical pieces on the front. The top step rests on the horizontal stretcher on the rear legs (which is beveled so that it sits flat) and the bottom step hangs from the top step via a parallelogram linkage essentially. The supports for the linkages are hand-dovetailed into the steps (tough to see in the pictures).
The front frame is all hand-cut mortise and tenons, while the rear leg/frame assembly is wedged mortise and tenons.
The finish was a hand-rubbed BLO/varnish/mineral spirits mixture-it really did a nice job of bringing out the richness of the walnut.
Finally, I tried Gorilla Glue for the first time (had some lying around from a project where some melamine needed to be glued together)...never again. Gorilla Glue is just good marketing, bad glue. Luckily I tried it on two small pieces (gluing the "rings" to the dowels…more decorative than anything else) and every one popped off under light sanding pressure. Reglued with good ol' Titebond…no problems. Titebond yes, Gorilla Glue no.
Most of the parts are oak, with contrasting walnut for the steps. The steps swivel on a piece of 3/8" threaded rod that spans the two vertical pieces on the front. The top step rests on the horizontal stretcher on the rear legs (which is beveled so that it sits flat) and the bottom step hangs from the top step via a parallelogram linkage essentially. The supports for the linkages are hand-dovetailed into the steps (tough to see in the pictures).
The front frame is all hand-cut mortise and tenons, while the rear leg/frame assembly is wedged mortise and tenons.
The finish was a hand-rubbed BLO/varnish/mineral spirits mixture-it really did a nice job of bringing out the richness of the walnut.
Finally, I tried Gorilla Glue for the first time (had some lying around from a project where some melamine needed to be glued together)...never again. Gorilla Glue is just good marketing, bad glue. Luckily I tried it on two small pieces (gluing the "rings" to the dowels…more decorative than anything else) and every one popped off under light sanding pressure. Reglued with good ol' Titebond…no problems. Titebond yes, Gorilla Glue no.