Build It Better Yourself
(Page 3 of 4)
September/October 1977
By the Mother Earth News editors
[3) Fasten the sixteen jar lids, four to a side, evenly spaced, with nails or tacks.
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[4] Drill two holes in the 12-inch piece, centered and about 4 inches from each end. This will be the part of the bracket that is mounted to the wall. For the other two pieces, drill two holes in one end, about 1112 inches apart and 9116 inch from the end of the wood. (These are for fastening the 8-inch pieces to each end of the 12-inch piece.) You can also drill small pilot holes in the ends of the 12-inch piece. On the opposite end of each of the 8-inch pieces, drill a 5116-inch hole centered in 1114 inches from the end for attaching the spindle.
SEED HOLDER
[5] Assemble the U-shaped frame using 2112-inch No. 10 screws. Drill small pilot holes into the ends of the spindle. Using two 2112-inch No. 12 roundhead screws, with a washer under each head, attach the spindle. Don't tighten these screws too much or the spindle will not turn.
[6] Screw the jars into the lids, and your seed holder is ready for the seeds.
TRUSS LADDER
A sturdy ladder is an invaluable orchard and woodlot tool, but it is also a fairly expensive piece of equipment. This truss ladder will not only shave that expense, it will be a challenging woodworking project for any homestead handyman. And its use doesn't need to be restricted to the orchard and woodlot.
The ladder shown was constructed, following an old design, from 1 X 2 material. The rungs should be hardwood and the uprights can be either hardwood or softwood. Ours was made 10 feet tall, but the design is adaptable for any length from 8 to 14 feet.
Just be sure to keep the bolts tight!
CONSTRUCTION
[1] Rough cut the rungs from 1 X 2 hardwood. You will need two 18 inches long, two 20 inches long, two 24 inches long, one 27 inches long, and two 30 inches long. If you are using 12-foot lengths of hardwood to construct the lad. der, cut 2 feet off each of four boards, making four rungs and the uprights. A fifth 12-footer will yield the remainder of the necessary rungs.
[2] Layout is half the battle in this project. Since the uprights are converging, the dadoes for the rungs must be cut on a slight angle. To determine the angle, lay out two of the uprights on your shop floor, the bottom ends 30 inches apart, the tops 12 inches apart. To ensure that all is level and plumb, you should lay out the uprights in relation to a center line, whether it be an imaginary one or an actual chalk line drawn on the shop floor, and a bottom lineone perpendicular to the center line. Measure up 12 inches along the center line and lay the first rung (a piece of 1 X 2) across the two uprights, making surethrough the use of a framing squarethat it is perpendicular to the center line. Mark the uprights above and below the rung for the dado. Measure 12 inches up along the center line from the top of that first rung to the bottom of the second rung. Lay it in place and mark the uprights for dadoing. Keep repeating the process until the uprights are marked for all nine rungs. Since you need four uprights altogether, mark a second pair, using the first pair as patterns. If you think about it, you'll see that the uprights are not exactly alike. Rather they are mirror images, so don't lay out one upright and use it as a pattern for the otherthree.
