Recently one of the Coast guards finest wandered in, and was admiring our shop ladder. A fabricated two step stool just the right size for welding boat beading. He said they needed something like that. Foolishly I said bring over some measurements, and I will whip something up. He brought me a yellow sticky, which had to go to the boss, so I could explain where all the material went...
it's seven foot long with a 30 inch rise, the front edge is on wheels, so when the boat rocks it will roll with it. Yes they are using it as a brow on a cutter.
My original plan called for the handrails to be bent, but the pipe REFUSED to bend beyond 30, the pipe bender would just tear it apart so we welded it, it welded poorly also. The last picture shows the detail of the base, it is ½ inch aluminum plate, to support the wheels. you may be able to see that the steps are numbered, each one was carefully custom trimmed on the back edge so they rest neatly on the angled channel, so the back of the steps do not flex. That grating gets all its strength from the ends, so if any of the individual strips are not supported they flex.
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