Ladder building material

[RS]

The question: What is a really lightweight material that is strong, maintenance freeand easy to work with ? i.e. the properties of wood, but lighter ? Starboard might not have the needed strength to hold bolts laterally...
Thx

Starboard and trex are about 3x the weight of wood. I think the closest thing you'll find to what you want is ... wood.

[abl1111]

I agree, wood is the lighest I can think of. Fiberglass sounds like too much hassle to build - it would be a lot of layup to make something that would need strength in every direction.

I was hoping one of you guys knew of some great 'stuff' that met the criteria.

I am still open for ideas though.

The original ladder was perfect - however not great quality. It looks like a it was a moulded pastic but there are a lot of voids in key areas (that's why my ladder failed, at least ). But, the design is perfect.

[jongolds]

I'd love to see what it looked like and how it stored as well. Mine also was stripped of this.
In the meantime, I was going to try an build some sort of ladder early this year but I've found that with the plywood panels that I put in to fill in the v-berth, it's not a bad step up to get on to the bow anyway. It's not great mind you but it wasn't bad enough to put that much work in to.

The best I could think of before I'd abandonded my ladder idea was PVC tubing but, I was told it wouldn't last if exposed to UV rays from the sun so then I thought of metal wire conduit..which of course would rust. Maybe those ideas can help get you somewhere though.

[RS]

Maybe you can rework part of an old/cheap extension or step ladder made of aluminum.

[eggsuckindog]

Maybe you can rework part of an old/cheap extension or step ladder made of aluminum.

Its the folding aspect you have to consider, if it doesn't fold up like the original it would be a pain to store, that decking stuff would work as well I bet a bunch cheaper.

[abl1111]

Here is a picture of the ladder. It's really nice if it works correctly. I would like to build another and if anyone has some insight as to how - I'd like to hear about it. Main requirements: light, durable, maintenance-free, foldable.


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[RS]

I'd use starboard side rails and wood treads, unless you need it lighter - then use all wood. Teak with oil is pretty maintenance free.