wheelchair ramp
hankus
to get in my slightly raised cottage.I saw one at harbor Freight which
requires 3/4" thick plywood..will need 36" width.I have no truck to carry
such but do have lots of 1/2" board (it is placed on the walls of buildings
and is fragments of wood rather than solid sheets) 20 inches wide...can I
glue the 1/2" together to equal an inch thick?
--
Thanks
Hank
Al Bundy
You could glue and clamp the 1/2" wood together. That's how plywood is
made anyway. I would prefer to drive a bunch of screws through both
pieces or do both glue and screws. For a small project, this would
work fine.
Bob Young
I need a temporary wheelchair ramp to allow an occasionally visiting
niece to get in my slightly raised cottage.I saw one at harbor Freight
which requires 3/4" thick plywood..will need 36" width.I have no truck
to carry such but do have lots of 1/2" board (it is placed on the walls
of buildings and is fragments of wood rather than solid sheets) 20
inches wide...can I glue the 1/2" together to equal an inch thick?
--
Thanks
Hank
-----------------
You said 'temporary'. Not sure how temporary 'temporary' is. But I would
bet a Rental type place would have one.
Ramps can be used for more things than wheel chairs. Folks need them
to roll wheel barrows in and out of any kind of building.
I have been chuckling, because it has already been proven that
Mexicans are capable of going over 'any' wall by use of ramps,put on
both sides. They've already done it. Have wall ...will travel!
John Weiss
Sure; no problem. Make sure it's clamped/weighted properly for whatever glue
you use. Stagger the 20" sheets you have, then trim to final size. Build the
inclines underneath from the same stuff; glue and screw together.
If the ramp will be in wet weather, a couple coats of clear boatbuilder's epoxy
(WEST System or similar) will help preserve it from delamination and rot. The
same epoxy can be used to glue the sheets together. You can go whole-hog and
put a layer of fiberglass cloth on the bottom side (or both) to make it stiffer
(could probably go with 1/2" with glass on both sides).
Don K
I built a wooden wheelchair ramp for the MIL a few years ago.
Here are my suggestions:
Keep in mind that a single flat piece of wood by itself, does not make
a useable ramp. To rise up, even one step, at a reasonable angle,
the ramp should be at least 6 feet long. That kind of length means that
there has to be some vertical members to give a flat ramp some
structural strength.
Run two vertical pieces on the outside edges to give it strength
along the length of the ramp and to make walls to guide and prevent
the wheelchair from falling off. I made my ramp using 1x6" wood.
Run a couple of vertical pieces across the width of the ramp to give
it strength across the ramp.
Trim the vertical pieces at a angle so the ramp nestles flat at the top
of the step and on the ground.
Don
ra...@vt.edu
> Keep in mind that a single flat piece of wood by itself, does not make
> a useable ramp. To rise up, even one step, at a reasonable angle,
> the ramp should be at least 6 feet long. That kind of length means that
> there has to be some vertical members to give a flat ramp some
> structural strength.
The standard is 1 foot of length per 1 inch or rise for wheelchair
ramps to meet code. For temporary you can get away with something
steeper, but it will not be easy to use and may require someone to
push/pull the chair up the ramp. Good to keep that in mind.
I had to build a ramp for my MIL some years ago to a back door
that was a good 36 inches off the ground. It took a *lot* of
planning to get 36 ft. of ramp into the space available.
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.
Bill Rider
Gary Heston
Bill Rider <ple...@nospa.mnet> wrote:
>ra...@vt.edu wrote:
[ ... ]
>> The standard is 1 foot of length per 1 inch or rise for wheelchair
>> ramps to meet code. For temporary you can get away with something
>> steeper, but it will not be easy to use and may require someone to
>> push/pull the chair up the ramp. Good to keep that in mind.
>> I had to build a ramp for my MIL some years ago to a back door
>> that was a good 36 inches off the ground. It took a *lot* of
>> planning to get 36 ft. of ramp into the space available.
>A spiral!
Spirals take a lot of space and are a _lot_ of work to build. The
usual approach is to have sections of ramp side-by-side with platforms
tying the ends together; the platforms have to be big enough to allow a
wheelchair to make a 180 degree turn, and take up more space.
Building a ramp for a 12" - 18" rise is fairly easy; building one for
36" or more is a challenge.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@hiwaay.net http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
Yoko Onos' former driver tried to extort $2M from her, threating to
"release embarassing recordings...". What, he has a copy of her album?