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comment by dublinben
dublinben  ·  2527 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Cool folding stairs I designed

Just a heads up, that these are not very safe. Each step/rung is only held up by the grip of the screws in the hinges. A safer design would have each step / rung resting on top of some kind of block that is supporting the user's weight.





mike  ·  2526 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, the hinges on the right side are both screwed and glued. Each hinge has 4 + 4 screws, good thick screws that reach almost to the other side of the stair. The glue is construction glue.

On the left side, the hinges are on the bottom of the step so it's naturally stronger. If heavy things are going up we can just stay left. The stairs are mostly just used by my daughter who is small, so I think it should be good.

dublinben  ·  2526 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm sure in actual application, these will be perfectly sufficient. It's just a good idea to keep in mind the strength limitations of screws in different dimensions when building stuff that will support people.

katakowsj  ·  2527 days ago  ·  link  ·  

True. Or, possibly thru bolt the hinges to the rails and rungs using the largest washers you can get away. That could help some.

Looking at the way they fold, support blocks under the rungs may work fine on the right rail, while blocks on the left, I imagine, will get in the way of the folding.

They look like a great solution.

mike  ·  2526 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's a great idea! If we ever signs of weakness I will implement this idea!