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1. the act of beating, whipping, or thrashing;
2. a decisive defeat;
3. unprovoked physical assaults
Simple and Compact Folding Design
This one is a little heavy, but it's easy to build, adjustable, inexpensive, and doesn't take up much space in the garage or the car. And no curved cuts are required! The plans below are for an improved version of the one pictured above, however, as both sides are surfaced so you can approach it from both directions, and the hinges are located better. All you'll need is a sheet of 1/2" CDX (cheap) plywood, a few 8-foot 1x4s, two 3" hinges, four 2" hinges, a length of chain, and some screws.
Step 1 - Cutting Lumber: Begin by cutting the 4'x8' sheet of plywood into four pieces. Two them will be 32"x48", so cut those first. Then take the amount that's left over (just under 32") and cut it in two (should be just under 16" each, both 48" long). Now cut up your four 1x4s so we have four 1"x4"x40" boards and four 1"x4"x41" boards. Here's how the 4'x8' sheet of plywood should be cut:
Step 2 - Frame Assembly: Lay a 32"x48" plywood piece on the ground and place two 40" 1x4s along the short sides of the plywood and two 41" 1x4s along the long sides of the plywood between the longer 1x4s. The lower horizontal 1x4 should be half on the plywood and half below it. They should make a rectangular frame (with legs) as shown here (the plywood is the green dashed rectangle):
Now lay the second 32"x48" plywood piece on top of the rectangle of 1x4s, make sure everything is aligned perfectly as shown, and drive a bunch of 1" drywall screws through the plywood into the 1x4s. If you want to drizzle some wood glue on the 1x4s before turning screws, feel free. The lower piece of plywood was just there for alignment purposes and should NOT be attached at this point. Once the plywood is attached to the four 1x4s, lay the other set of 1x4s on the assembled piece, lay the other 32"x48" plywood on the 1x4s, align everything, and screw this piece of plywood to the 1x4s with more 1" screws, and glue if you wish. Now you have two assemblies that should look something like the image above.
Step 3 - Main Hinges: Lay the two assemblies plywood-side down with the tops adjacent to each other as shown:
Place the open 3" hinges on the 1x4s with the hinge pin and barrel on the side away from you. Slide the frames together such that there's a minimal gap between the tops of the frames, just large enough to make room for the hinge pin barrel.
Make sure both frames and both hinges are placed properly and attach them to the frames with the screws provided with the hinges. You should now be able to fold the two halves together almost completely flat. We're getting there!
Step 4 - Lower Hinges: Now lay the assembled frame flat, this time with the plywood surface facing up. Take one of the 16" x 48" plywood pieces and set it on the frame adjacent to the larger plywood piece. Now slide that piece down slightly and use the same procedure with the 2" hinges as you did with the 3" hinges to attach the two pieces of plywood together. Do NOT screw this plywood panel directly to the frame! Repeat procedure on other frame. This piece of plywood will overhang the legs by about 8".
Step 5 - Adjusting Chain: This one is easy! Just take a screw and drive it into the upper edge of the lower horizontal 1x4, keeping the screw parallel to the ramp surface. I prefer the screws to be in the middle, but it's more difficult to reach there and it should be just as effective if the screws are at one edge. Don't fully seat the screw, leave the head up about a half-inch. Repeat on the other side. This is to allow you to hook a link of chain on one screw, set the ramp angle you desire, pull the loose end of the chain to the other side, remove the slack, and hook it over the other screw head. Now the ramp won't slide and fall flat. Here's what it should look like ready for action and also folded for transport:
That's it! Your new ramp is complete. I'm usually too anxious to use the ramp to take time to paint it, but some people have more patience than I and painting could preserve the ramp's life if you let it get wet. Plywood and wet conditions don't get along well!
Your new ramp is easy to transport and set up, it's adjustable from very flat to very steep, and the 16" panel helps transition the vehicle from the flat ground to the ramp's surface by cutting the approach angle approximately in half.
Enjoy!
Copyright © 2008 RCBASHER