Practical Boat Owner - June 2018

(^9)
The stop was reset and the
depth of cut raised to
produce tenons by multiple
passes of the saw blade as the
timber was fed towards the stop.
INSET Tenon ends were rounded
with a rasp to match the rounded
ends of the routed mortices.
10
With all joints cut it was time for a dry run prior to gluing
and screwing. Pilot holes with a counter bore for plugs to
cover the screw heads were drilled in the sides and into each
step to take a pair screws.
(^6)
Once the slots were cleaned up the next step was to round
over the edges. I used a bench-mounted router, but a
handheld one with a brearing guide on the bit will do the job
(^8)
Each of the seven steps had to be cut exactly to the same
length otherwise the ladder wouldn’t be square. A radial
arm crosscut saw was set up with a stop clamped to the back
fence to allow repetitive accurate lengths to be cut.
7
I also used the
table router
(above) to cut the
rebates for the
hinges between
upper and lower
sections of the
ladder (right), and
then a bandsaw to
cut the rebate for the
bronze fittings that
hook the ladder into
the pad eyes on the
boat. All edges were
given a round over
using a small
diameter router
cutter before
dry-fitting the bronze
hinges and hooks
(right).
PRACTICAL