Discussions with Zharphyn

I am constructing a bed for my three year old, and I need to build a ladder.  As I was exploring how to build a ladder, I realized that the basic concept of ladder is remarkably similar to building a set of monkey bars for the jungle gym that I am going to build my children. I know that I am getting a little bit carried away with everything that I plan on building with my children, but it is good to have plans.

The concept is very easy.  You use a thick wooden dowel, I am going to use 1½”, but I know other guys who use 1″ or 1¼”, and some 2x4s.  Drill a hole through two 2x4s with the same diameter as the dowel every 14′.  Laminate a second 2×4 to one side of each 2×4 that you have drilled a hole.  Insert your dowel into the holes in the 2x4s to create the rungs. As you can see from the picture, you wind up with what almost looks like a ladder.  Now that you have the monkey bars, you need to suspend them off of the ground.  Use a similar technique to build a short ladder.  For the ladder, you want the rungs closer together, I would recommend 12″ spacing.  You do not need the ladder to go up very far, 3 – 4 rungs should suffice, but you do need the 2x4s for the ladder to go much higher than the rungs.  When you climb to the top of the rungs, you should be able to reach the monkey bars.  To attach the monkey bars to the ladders, what you do is make the outer 2x4s on the ladder longer than the inner 2x4s, and on the monkey bars, you make the inner 2x4s longer than the outer.  This way, when you go to assemble your full structure, the inner 2x4s from the monkey bars rest on the inner 2x4s from the ladder, and the ladder’s outer 2x4s overlap the monkey bar’s inner 2x4s.  I would send some thick carriage bolts right through to hold the structure together.  This will give you a basic set of monkey bars; you are going to need to secure them from tipping over, but that would depend upon to which structure you were attaching them.  If you want them free standing, I would recommend cementing them into the ground.