wheelchair user – savemaple.org

Post #927: Wheelchair floor-to-chair aid, V3

The brief for this task: Create a floor-to-chair aid for wheelchair users. It must be able to be made at home, using only simple hand tools and readily available materials.

The end result is shown directly below.

Above: Floor-to-chair aid, folded and covered. For scale, the push-up bars sitting on top are 6″ tall.

Above: Rear view, folded. Lower stairs sit atop upper stairs when folded. The boxes nearest the camera flip away from the camera when put into use.

Above: Rear view, unfolded. Lower stairs have been flipped off the top, away from camera, revealing hardboard stair tops. Push-up bars are on top.

Above: Front view, folded. Blue cloth connects the lower and upper sections of the staircase.

Above: Front view, unfolded. Lower stairs have been flipped off the top, toward the camera, revealing hardboard stair tops. The blue cloth keeps the upper and lower stairs connected. Continue reading Post #927: Wheelchair floor-to-chair aid, V3

Post #926: Knife guide for cutting corrugated cardboard.

This post is a set of instructions for creating a utility knife guide, for making fast, straight, precise cuts in corrugated cardboard, using a utility knife. This guide only cuts cardboard to 4″ widths, but you can easily modify it for other widths. It uses about $7 in parts, and takes about 15 minutes to construct. Continue reading Post #926: Knife guide for cutting corrugated cardboard.

Post #917: Floor-to-chair aid, user focus

This is the final set of refinements for my floor-to-chair aid staircase. I’ll build a new set of stairs incorporating all the changes when the materials arrive later this week.

The upshot of this posting is that the only configuration you can build out of readily-available parts is a staircase with four 4.5″ steps. And that it might be a good idea to carpet those steps.

As planned, the entire setup, including carpet and pushup bars, should cost about $55, and should take just over three hours to build. The footprint of the stairs will now be 48″ x 32″

Details follow.

Continue reading Post #917: Floor-to-chair aid, user focus

Post #913: A D-I-Y floor-to-chair aid for paraplegic wheelchair users

This post is now superseded by Post #927. Ignore the post below, and look at #927 for the final plans for this device.

This design works, but it’s really a proof-of-concept. I’m now looking for easier ways to build it. As I figure out improvements, I’ll post them separately, and link to them here.

For example, today (12/12/2020) I tested whether or not the lower cartons need to be reinforced. They don’t. The empty cartons themselves are sufficient. That alone shows that there are faster, cheaper ways to build these steps.

See Post #914 for proposed modifications and a somewhat easier way to do this. I’ll post a revised set of directions ~~when I rebuild this tomorrow.~~

Post #917 now gives the final changes. As it turns out, the only set that’s feasible to build and use, using off-the-shelf materials, is set with 4.5″ riser height and four steps. I’ll document building that set when the materials arrive later this week.

Original post follows.

This post is a set of instructions for creating a broad, shallow, portable staircase. The idea is that a paraplegic wheelchair user could use this staircase, along with a set of pushup bars, to move from floor to chair level or vice-versa.

That’s a picture of my wife sitting on the finished steps, left. It’s meant to illustrate how sturdy these steps feel, as she is perfectly comfortable sitting on them.

This is a followup to Post #886: A floor-to-chair/chair-to-floor aid for wheelchair users. If you want the background on why I’m doing this, and what this is for, read that post. Continue reading Post #913: A D-I-Y floor-to-chair aid for paraplegic wheelchair users