Half Lap Idea.
Half Lap Idea.
[ Thanks to Philip Woodman, UK ]
Philip sent us in his great idea for joinery between the transition templates and the ribs.
Philip:
Hi
[ ... ] I saw that the boy on your website who built the ramp in his garage had trouble with the horizontal braces popping out of their slots in the sides of the ramp. When building my ramp I was just going to screw the braces to the insides of the transition walls to prevent this happening, but I thought this would loose strength in the braces and the screw joints. On your website you mentioned how you can screw another layer of ply over the slots in the sides of the ramp and then screw the braces to that. But, I came up with another, easier way. The included diagram shows this. If you were using 2 by 4s as the braces and ¾ inch ply as the transition side walls – cut a square out of each end of the 2 by 4s half the height (2inches) and the depth of the ply (¾ inch) – see diagram. Then in the positions where the braces will be fixed to the side walls, cut a 2inch square, perpendicular (at right angles) to the tangent of the transition – again the diagram makes it clearer. You can then slot the ends of the braces into the squares cut into the side walls. You should then be able to screw through the ply of the side walls into the lower half of the brace – see diagram.
I apologies for the description but you shouldn’t need them with the diagram. I am studying design at college and am continuing it into university so when I make my ramp I will try to produce some CAD designs.
Thanks for the great free website and I hope you continue to keep it updated.
Phil
