Introduction

An Elephant Ladder is an elegant solution to having a compact, easy to store ladder for the pantry, library, gypsy wagon or for giving your favourite mahout a step up in life. (Not sure I believe that last statement, in my experience, mahouts are lifted up by the elephant's trunk.)

This is a class that can be taken by people with little or no woodworking experience.

Steve prepares a full kit of pieces prior to the class. We'll have easy to use jigs to shape the ends of the rungs and to drill the holes in both the rungs and the verticals.

You'll shape the rungs and the verticals using spokeshaves and handplanes - this will be moderate physical activity but not excessive - and great fun.

We'll be using robust local hardwoods for both the verticals and the rungs. We'll finish them with an easy to maintain oil and wax finish.

Class Description

In this class you'll learn to:

• Use a drill press or hand drill to accurately position holes in the rungs and verticals
• Round the ends of each rung using hand tools or using a jig on a sanding machine
• Shape the edges of each rung using a spokeshave
• Shape the verticals with a rounded profile of your choice - this may introduce you to the bandsaw
• Glue the "tail" pieces into the verticals
• Peen the brass pins holding the rungs in place
• Finish the ladder with a non-toxic oil and beeswax finish
• Go home with a big grin

Tools:

You do not need to bring any tools for this class.

We recommend wearing old clothing for the second day of the class when you are putting finish on your ladder.

More about this class

• Class Notes
• Blog Entries

Prerequisites

Enthusiasm

Class Information and Registration

Class starts at 9:00am on the first day.

Please read our What to Expect page for general information about the School.

Please also read our Registration Policy.

Coming Classes:

When you click on the Register link you will be able to register for the class or, if the class is full, sign up for the wait list.