Wood Ground Ladders

[Guest]

Hello



Can anyone tell me if they have refinished wooden ground ladders and if so can you explain the process and materials used. The ladders that I'm doing is for a friend that has a Seagraves tiller he is restoring.



Thanks

Mike Churchey

[Lewie]

Got this from the Seagrave Yahoo group a few years ago. The author was Kevin Sweeney.



Depending upon the condition of your ladder different things can be done. In the old days they used a broken bottle glass edge to remove old varnish but I don't recommend that. I've found a good sanding followed by 5-6 coats of a high quality spar varnish will last you a long time provide your rig is kept out of the sun. Just like red paint, varnish doesn't hold up well under sunlight and will cause your wood to get that "weathered" look, which is cool on barns but not for ladders.

[crownfire]

Scrape off all the old varnish, being careful not to damage the wood in the process. A piece of straight-edged glass does work well for this, but wear gloves! Sand the wood smooth. Saturate the wood with linseed oil. Depending on the condition of the wood, this may require many applications and lots of oil. Be extremely careful not to burn down your workspace with the linseed oil soaked rags-they will spontaneously combust. Apply several coats of high quality spar varnish as has been mentioned. To me, nothing sets off a classic fire truck like freshly varnished wood ladders.

[1958 F.W.D.]

[quote name='Crownfire' date='23 April 2010 - 12:59 PM' timestamp='1272040792' post='377612']Be extremely careful not to burn down your workspace with the linseed oil soaked rags-they will spontaneously combust. [/quote]





GOOD ADVICE!! improper disposal/spontaneous combustion of linseed-oil soaked rags was the cause of the massive 12-Alarm (+numerous special calls) high rise fire (which also caused 3 LODD's) at One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia, Pa. in February of 1991.

[ACPD227]

I just redid my ladder last winter. I used a varnish stripper to remove the varnish. I then sanded the ladders and applied 5-6 coats of spar varnish. Mine turned out so well I did another ladder and used it as a pot and pan holder in my kitchen.

[jwh]

If you're doing stripping you might want to try this stuff.....worked well on some railings I did in my house:



Franmar Chemical Soy Gel - www.franmar.com



It's a little pricey - as I remember around $20.00 a quart...BUT: NON FLAMMABLE - NO FUMES - NO GLOVES NEEDED.



just a thought..



John in Rochester NY