Bless you for putting metric measurements alongside imperial, very much appreciated

For those looking to make something like this: To add strength to the rungs, make sure the wood grains are vertical when standing on them. Wood will bow easier if the grains are perpendicular to the direction of the force applied. If the grains run along the same direction of applied force, it will likely need shearing pressure (greater pressure) to break on you. Also pressure treated dowels are a little more pricier, but will ensure the strongest possible product.

OH-IO..HUGE THANK YOU for taking the time to share this creative ladder. We made a reading loft in my home office CLOSET with (2) Ikea Expedit Units 4x2 pushed together vertically, then created a wooden platform. I carpeted with FLOR carpet tile samples (free). This ladder is going to be perfect for our 6-year-old son to use to climb into the 'reading loft'. Now he can do homeschool work (during pandemic) and I can work at my desk. We are going to make the rung spacing a bit closer together for little legs. I just called Ace Hardware and they pulled all of the pieces I need, I paid and we are picking up now!

Even though this is over 4 years ago, I am so happy I found your channel. This ladder is great. I will need it to wash my bow window (second floor) and when not in use, it will look great for seasonal decor indoors. Thanks for your expertise.

Just followed your tutorial and the ladder turned out amazing. I used hard 12 foot poplar 1x3 for the sided and 1 1/8 poplar dowels for the rungs. I stained the sides an English walnut (and distressed the wood) to match our floors, and painted the rungs a flat black. I added some non-skid rubber for indoor use. Thanks for the motivation!

Great ladder - I made this ladder for my cellar. The bearers are 385 mm apart and I couldn't find a flat pack ladder and they're expensive. Now I have an oak ladder that I've now put some wax on and it looks terrific. I didn't have a bench drill so it's not perfect but still more than adequate. Thanks

This is the first video of yours that I am viewing and...I literally subscribed at the first metric caption that I saw - thank you for wanting to reach more than an American audience.

great video. thanks!

Thanks for the video. I just made mine today and will test it out tomorrow when the glue is dry. I love that it's super lightweight. I hope the 1x3's hold my 180 lbs. Mine is purpose-built for a stair platform I made, so knowing exactly how far from the wall I will position it let me angle the bottoms to sit flush on the floor and the tops to sit flush on the wall.

Great video! I will use flat wood instead of dowels, but thanks for the tutorial. And your faces throughout drilling are funny!

love the out-takes

Great video ! I need exactly the same ledder. Thank's for dimensions. Fan from Poland.

nice , quick, diy ladder. thank you.

"just don't be stupid!" - love it :)

I recommend driving a nail trough the side of the wood into or through each dowel for extra strength

Easy ladder build with my wood shop with drill press and table saw guys. Easy peasy.

I would put a screw into each dowel end at a right angle, from the side, through either the front or back surface of the 2x4, functioning as a retaining pin to prevent the dowel/rung being pulled from the hole, just in case the glue joints fail under unexpected loads. Also, it's really easy to convert a ladder such as this into a free-standing step ladder: Simply take 2 more 2x4s of the same length as the ladder legs and clamp them near the tops of these, on the outside. Determine the angle you want your ladder to stand when fully open, and cut a small mitered wedge from the top of the inner/ladder legs, so that their tops are level when open (save one of these wedges for the later cross brace bevel step). Also cut a small wedge from the backs of each of these inner/ladder legs at the top, to flush up that back corner to the back surface of the outer/brace legs. Now drill 1/4" holes through both inner and outer legs, on the centerline of the 2x4, centered 1 3/4" down from the end, and attach each inner and outer pair together like scissors with a 1/4" bolt and nut (carriage screws work best, since they have a longer unthreaded shank that won't chew out the hole, and a low-profile head). To keep the legs from rubbing together excessively with use, I like to cut washers from thin, scrap HDPE (i.e., milk jug plastic) and put 3 or 4 in each joint, to introduce a bit of space between the legs, and also to lubricate the joint with slick plastic rubbing together. I also like to add a second nut as a jam nut to each screw, to prevent it loosening over time. A jam nut is about as effective as thread lock glue, plus easier to take apart and put back together, if needed. If you've located the 1/4" hole correctly, the ladder will nest within the outer brace legs when closed, and when open to the desired angle, the top back corner of the ladder legs will be flush with the back surface of the brace legs. Now take a 2x4 that's as long as the outer legs' width, outside surface to outside surface, and rip a bevel from one edge of this 2x4, finding the bevel angle by using that scrap cut from the top of a ladder leg, so that when it's attached across the back surface of the brace legs at the top, its new bevel face is flush with and in the same plane as the angled tops of the ladder legs. Now holding a pencil so that its point is flush with the top of the ladder leg next to where this bevel will be attached, close the brace leg while drawing an arc on the inside of it as you close it all the way to the nested position. Cut away the wood above this arc, so that none of it pokes up past the top of the ladder leg from fully open to fully closed. Now attach (very securely with glue and screws) the cross piece you beveled across the tops of the outer/brace legs, again making sure the bevel face is flat with the tops of the ladder legs, and so that when fully open, the flush-cut back corners of the inner/ladder legs open out against the inside of this cross brace, using the cross brace as a stop that limits how far the ladder legs open out. Also attach 1 or 2 more cross braces to the back surface of the outer brace legs, toward the middle and bottom of their length, depending on the height of your ladder (I would use 2, plus the top beveled brace, on an 8' ladder). Finally, you can use the wedge scrap from the top of a ladder leg and cut the bottoms of all 4 legs with this angle, so that the ladder sits flat on these cuts when open, and not on the corners of the 2x4s, to prevent splintering. Also round-over all sharp corners in contact with the ground, especially the pointier ones the ladder stands on when closed, which will help prevent splintering by the shorter fibers in the curve supporting the longer ones. Now cut an appropriately-sized piece of wood according to your needs for a top shelf, on which you can set paint cans, tools, etc. This can be 3/4" plywood, perhaps with a short fence around its edge, as deep as you want it, holes cut into it for drills or screwdrivers, etc., but make sure the length is at least as long as the width of the outer legs, outside to outside (could be longer, as you choose for your needs). Position the top shelf where you want it when the ladder is open, and attach it to the flat tops of the inner/ladder legs (not the curved outer/brace legs, which should now miss the bottom of this shelf throughout the open/close arc). To use the ladder, simply open it all the way until the inner/ladder tops are stopped by the outer legs' top cross brace. There is no need for ropes, chains, etc. The stops provide all the limiting for the opening that's needed. This ladder is sturdy enough to use as is, but for extra safety, I prefer pre-drilling a 1/8" hole through the tops of both legs when open, near the top corner near the cross brace, and adding a 2 1/2" construction screw on each side, to take out that final bit of wobble from the bit of space around the 1/4" pivot, plus to keep the ladder from 'rocking' its legs a bit closed if I'm working on an uneven surface. These 2 safety screws can be easily removed with your drill/driver when you're about to take your last trip down the ladder at the end of work, allowing it to fold together with the ladder nested within the outer brace leg assembly for flat storage. (A more permanent latching mechanism could be fabricated, but these screws work well enough for me.) Also for extra safety, since the 1/4" pivot bolts are only about 1 5/8" from the ends of the 2x4s, and especially if you suspect the 2x4 grain might split down to the pivot bolt and break off the end of the leg (unlikely, but depends on your weight, the ladder's length, and how you're using the ladder), you can add reinforcing patches made from 1/2" plywood scrap. Attach these on the inner surface of the inner legs, and on the outer surface of the outer legs. Cut them 3 1/2" wide to match the 2x4s, with one matching the angled shape of the inner leg and the other the curved shape of the outer leg, glued and screwed, and a hole cut in the center to be able to get at the nut with your socket wrench, and to remove the bolt on the head side. This step ladder was a fun project to figure out, and it really added value to the simple ladder I had, that was made similar to the one in the video.

Nice work, making one this weekend, but a bit more beefy.

How about ganging up those sides when drilling? That would speed things up and eliminate the chance of ending up with any of the rungs crooked (which I know I would do in a project like this :-).

I like how you are able to make clever things with rather cheap tools. Are the boards made of pine? How many HP or Watt has your drill press? I clicked on the link but I could not find that information there. Mine is 500W (2/3 HP) and has sometimes troubles too.

Thank you great video

What watch do you have? I love it

Strong enough to go up two steps max. Make another and turn them into a wood rack.

great video. can tell you put a LOT of work into it. thanks

You shouldn’t use knotty boards like that for ladder rails. They are weak points and the ladder will break at those points in the future. You want clear straight grain wood for ladders.

Awesome! :)

While I applaud your ingenuity, I would never trust a home-made ladder for going up any more than perhaps a few feet off the ground, and certainly not one with dowel rods for rungs. Anytime someone is up on a ladder, the risk of injury is increased by orders of magnitude, and this is compounded when you can't be sure of the ladder your are climbing on. Would you expect someone else to be able to use this without your supervision? For example, if a contractor was doing work on your house and thought "well this is convenient, he already has a ladder right here, so I don't need to haul in the one on my truck", you would almost certainly be at fault for any injury that resulted -- is it worth that risk? I appreciate what you said about "don't be stupid", but unless this is locked up in a place where only you can access it -- or bolted into place for a specific use case like getting to the top of a bunk bed -- you will have no idea what people might do with it. Among the issues: will someone heavier than your expected weight limit use it? Will they go up the rungs as delicately as you do? Will they understand that this doesn't have self-leveling, rubberized feet to grip the floor and avoid it slipping out from under them? What will happen as this ladder ages, and damage accumulates on it?

Less than 20$ !? O this was made over 5 years ago

Round the ends of the ladder

Cool! :)

what happened at the end!?!?!

Enjoy Sto Doys woodworking instructions.

1he wood cost $85 now.

Wait dude, are you 8 feet tall??? Because you call this an 8 ft ladder, but at the beginning, you appear to be as tall as the ladder! Cool bro, tall people are cool!!! What is the maximum weight you think this could support?

What where you thinking son

Ahhh no man! Not dowels they will roll on you.

Watching him use the drill press while wearing a wedding ring and watch gave me nerves