Kid Learning/ helping tower design questions

[sebr023]

Personally, I think 1/2" would be ideal.  Both for looks, and weight.  3/4 seems like overkill.

Dados- If you go with the cross dowels, I'd make the dados REAL shallow.  Like 1/8".  Combine that with a 1.5" cleat under the treads, and you'll have a hard time breaking anything. 

If you don't want fasteners, then yeah make the dados deeper.  And do 3/4" ply too, I guess.

When I say "cleat", there's probably a more correct word for it-  something like this, 3rd one down

I think it would look better without fastener, but if that’s what is needed for my protects, I don’t mind.

You would put 1: 1.5in “cleat” on each side glued on the legs?

Or that cleat would be dado-ed under the stair to give it more strength?

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[sebr023]

I think that somewhere along the line, some people are missing the concept that this is a laser-cut project. The increments of 1/4" are part of the design.
With that in mind, and now knowing that parts of this will be permanently fastened/glued, I would modify my thoughts.
Add a third layer
Deepen the dados with that layer.
Add another layer onto the steps, but make it shorter, so that you don't have to increase the width of the dados. That layer would just be for stiffness, and an additional shoulder to help with racking.
I would still like to see a metal rod across it somewhere, probably the platform itself, but the confirmat screws may be enough.

I mean, I wanted to use the laser because it would be faster, and less time consuming because I would juste need to assemble it and glue it.

I could ever make a template out of 1/4 cheap plywood and flush turn 3/4 ply. But I think that defeats the purpose of quicker laser cutting method.

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[sebr023]

I did miss that.  If I was laser cutting, I would use 3/4” Baltic birch and instead of full-length dadoes, I would cut through slots that are stopped at both ends. 

The “tongue” of the shelves would fit into the slots. 

Alternatively, there could be two shorter slots and matching “tongues” to fit into both. 

I would use large diameter wood rods (about 1-1/2” diameter) with threaded inserts at both ends.  These would be used to tie the sides together.

This is similar to what I had in mind, though I don’t think I would make the slots that wide.  It would appear to compromise the panel strength too much.  Two smaller tabs or one where the tab is not quite so wide.

How the adjustability on this?

You have to unscrew the whole panel to change the shelf height?!

That’s why I used full width dado in order to juste unscrew the side for the steps and move it where you want.

And since it would be glued and the bottom, I can’t only unscrew the shelf, pry open the leg to remove the shelf and steps.

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[Packard]

As I understand it, you remove the front or rear panel and mover the step.  You are only going to do this every 4 - 6 months, so not much of a burden.

I have a Gerber folding knife that takes utility knife blades.  It requires removing a screw to replace the blade—not the most convenient. But I have had several other similar knives with “just-flip-this-to-replace-blade” convenience, but the blade wobbled in all of them.  Sometimes bolting things together is a worthwhile option, and for security, I would prefer it.

Personal taste.  We all have our own.

 

[tsmi243]

You would put 1: 1.5in “cleat” on each side glued on the legs?

Or that cleat would be dado-ed under the stair to give it more strength?

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Under the horizontal tread.  Basically it's just there to keep the tread straight.  Any downward flex in the center will also flex the angle at the joints on each end, which is IMO your biggest challenge for durability.  Any joint will weaken if flexed repeatedly. 

Keep the treads straight (cleat), and keep the joints tight (cross dowel) and pretty much any dimension of material will hold.  The front cross rails in your image are there for the same reason- they keep the sides from bowing, and provide racking resistance to eliminate flex at the joints. 

 

[sebr023]

Thought I’d update you guys on the project.

I finished it 2 days ago. So far the child is loving it very much.

It has 3 coats of scuff-x paint on the outside. 1 coats of ligna pronto on the inside to prevent birch ply to yellow. It also has a 3d printed name tag in the front.

Thanks for all your comment and suggestion!

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[squall_line]

Looks amazing!

I'm hoping to get my garage cleaned up enough to make one for our boy soon (hopefully before he turns 2), but out of poplar.

What color Scuff-X is that?  It's almost the same color my wife wanted for ours, so I figured I might as well ask.

 

[sebr023]

Looks amazing!

I'm hoping to get my garage cleaned up enough to make one for our boy soon (hopefully before he turns 2), but out of poplar.

What color Scuff-X is that?  It's almost the same color my wife wanted for ours, so I figured I might as well ask.

Thanks a lot!
Lots of works involved. And life gets in the way sometimes.

I’ll get back to you with the colour name/ recipe. I believe we grabbed a sample and made it match in scuff x

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[sebr023]

Looks amazing!

I'm hoping to get my garage cleaned up enough to make one for our boy soon (hopefully before he turns 2), but out of poplar.

What color Scuff-X is that?  It's almost the same color my wife wanted for ours, so I figured I might as well ask.

Thanks a lot!
Lots of works involved. And life gets in the way sometimes.

I’ll get back to you with the colour name/ recipe. I believe we grabbed a sample and made it match in scuff x

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[sebr023]

Looks amazing!

What color Scuff-X is that?  It's almost the same color my wife wanted for ours, so I figured I might as well ask.

Here you go!

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