Library Ladder? Anyone design one?

[MatBirch]

I'm tasked with designing a rolling ladder system for a client for accessing their pantry. The room is long and narrow at 8'4"-1/2"x 44-1/2". They expect the ladder to ride around the corners on the narrow end of the room. Fabbing the rail is no trouble, but I'm other than wadding up a pile of conduit scraps or something to trial and error a test fit, does anyone have a idea of how to calculate a useable radius? I know there are a ton of factors- Wheel size, rail size, distance between wheels, etc.
Prior to my being assigned this project, the customer/boss/ and installer tentatively decided on a 1" rail, and a set of wheels that are turned out of UHMW with a 1" hollow. The wheels are 7/8" thick and 1.5" OD.

 

[4xdog]

A young carpenter I know (my best friend's son, in France) built a set of shelves and a library ladder for his aunt and uncle. Knowing him, he fabbed everything from wood and likely bought the hardware. It's a traditional straight-line ladder.

Getting one to go around corners sounds doable, but kind of tricky. Maybe there's some out-of-the-box thinking to be done? Perhaps a ladder that unfolds a bit to access the short wall sorta like some small stepstools -- less than four feet really isn't that much.

I think Julien's ladder simply hooks on the rail. It wouldn't be hard to have one that could be unhooked and repositioned to the short wall in your pantry.

(big image -- click to enlarge)

 

[matt_i]

It might be worth considering a 3 point design where there's a single wheel up-top and a wider stance down below, or make the bottom casters spring-loaded so they can launch the ladder off the floor but the user's body weight allows it to collapse back down to hard points for extra stability. That would simplify the top's ability to turn the corner.

The alternative would be to create upper guide wheels that pivot around a kingpin sort of setup, and limit the travel to give you just enough to go around the radiused track at the top. Think of a steering linkage/front end of a vehicle but without the link, the guide wheels just pilot on the radiused track.

I'm also envisioning the upper guide wheels are a pair of upper and lower wheels that don't release from the track without pulling fasteners or pins.

Sounds like a great project, keep us posted with pics

 

[yatg]

I'm tasked with designing a rolling ladder system for a client for accessing their pantry. The room is long and narrow at 8'4"-1/2"x 44-1/2". They expect the ladder to ride around the corners on the narrow end of the room. Fabbing the rail is no trouble, but I'm other than wadding up a pile of conduit scraps or something to trial and error a test fit, does anyone have a idea of how to calculate a useable radius? I know there are a ton of factors- Wheel size, rail size, distance between wheels, etc.
Prior to my being assigned this project, the customer/boss/ and installer tentatively decided on a 1" rail, and a set of wheels that are turned out of UHMW with a 1" hollow. The wheels are 7/8" thick and 1.5" OD.

Well right off, you need a couple inches on each side for the rail to stand off so your maximum radius is going to be 20".

Here's a link to a catalog of library ladder parts. They make a 16" radius section. You'll need swivel rollers for the top rail.

https://www.baersupply.com/baer/products/catalogs/Quiet-Glide-Rolling-Library-Ladders.pdf

Your ladder width and height will determine how far out it will be from the shelves. Make a scale drawing with some graph paper and a compass to see how the ladder will track around the curve.

I wouldn't hesitate to do something like this for myself, but "'we live in a very litigious society". If the customer gets injured, you don't want to be the guy who made the ladder out of "parts".

 

[toplessHO]

If you can find some pics of an old Bell systems phone building the wire racks that had all the incoming phones on it had a nice oak ladder on a rail and wheels.

 

[e36jon]

I have not built or designed my own ladder system. I do, however, love me some Google image search. The 'telescoping' variety of all these ladders was something I was interested in when I was looking for myself since I didn't have room for it to stay 'extended' into the room:

1. https://www.betterslidingladders.com/mwe-ladder-types/#SL6004

2. Lots of installation instructions that include diagrams for the corner details:

Can't wait to see what you end up doing!

 

[bored350]

Check in with Shop Nut's thread on his Asylum. I believe his library ladder starts around post #789
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1762073

Sent from my moto g stylus using Tapatalk

 

[larry4406]

I think member OldCarGuy built one years ago and documented it on this forum. I don’t think he posts anymore.

 

[tarbellb]

If the upper wheels can pivot on the z axis you should be alright.
Is it using a captured wheel and rail setup?
If not, consider adding safety hooks.

Keep us posted

 

[rattle_snake]

I believe Todd over at Ernie's place build one. Some good info on challenges.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253180

 

[rkevins]

I think Rockler also sells parts for library ladders

 

[Slednut]

I think Rockler also sells parts for library ladders

https://www.rockler.com/9-rockler-classic-rolling-library-ladder-wood-kits

 

[shopnut]

Check in with Shop Nut's thread on his Asylum. I believe his library ladder starts around post #789
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1762073

Sent from my moto g stylus using Tapatalk

That's right, I built one. I guess you could call it the extension type because it hangs vertical when not in use, doesn't have wheels at the bottom, and uses a 24' extension ladder.

Disclaimer: I don't expect my design to be a big help to the OP because it sounds like our requirements differ a lot, but perhaps others that search and find this thread will take away something useful from it.

My Asylum build thread index shows the following reply numbers discuss it:
Library Ladder - 298,299,302,308,309,316,317,324,340,499,506,557,571,573,598, 602,604,712,759,769,775,789-795,800,802,971,1620,1642,1717,1723,2210

It has pivoting trolley wheels at the end of a 4' carriage and corner radius is 42". It still isn't completely finished with the features I envisioned, but basic functionality is there. Because the rail system is pretty heavy duty, I added a chain hoist onto the carriage.

These early videos and recent pictures might help explain it:
Library Ladder Demonstration (Camera on carriage)
Library Ladder Demonstration (Viewed from below)

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