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Category: Arthritis

EZ Style stair step

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EZ Style stair step is designed for use by individuals with limited strength and coordination in their lower extremities as a result of arthritis, stroke or nerve injuries.

Step 1: Materials and tools.

The final list of materials is as follows:

  • Two pieces of HDPE plastic for the top and bottom (I used cheap plastic cutting boards)
  • A rubberized grip material (I used cheap silicone baking trays)
  • Nuts (3/8 inches in size; also you want non-nylon lock nuts for reasons that will become apparent later 3/8 inches threaded rod (4 feet or more in case you cut incorrectly)
  • 2 inches washers and lock washers
  • White spray paint
  • Adjustable single point cane
  • 1inch pipe flange (PVC is preferable)
  • Pipe nipple (1 inch reducing down to ¾ inch)
  • ¾ inch pipe cap
  • Pin with chain
  • Small diameter bolts and or long rivets for affixing the silicone rubber to the HDPE plastic and the pipe flange to the plastic
  • Galvanized wire for cross bracing
  • Small lengths of lumber for spacers during assembly

The tools from the hackspace that were used in the making of this item are as follows:

Table saw, Band saw Drill press (this is really a must) with these tools: 5/16 drill, #6 countersink, 3/8 - 16UNC Tap, 1/8 inch drill, C-clamps and small vise, 3/4 inch drill, ½ inch drill bit, Scribe - punch and rule for layout, Horizontal band saw, Sander, Sketch-up to read the file with the dimensions.

Step 2: Layout Take the dimensions from the sketchup file for the top and bottom of the piece. I first did the layout on a piece of paper just so I knew where everything was before I started making indelible marks on the work piece. Next I laid out the holes on the work piece by measuring their center points from the edges. You want to lay out the holes for the threaded rod supports (7 of those in both sides if you have a handle like my finished piece, 8 if you do not like the original sketchup model), for the ¾ inch hole (1 of those in one side) and for the 1/8 inch holes for the securing rivets and/or small bolts (I used 8 in each side but you can use more or less depending on preference; also these holes are not in the sketchup model they were added in later around the edge between the 5/16 inch hole and the edge of the work piece). Sketchup is the key here all the dimensions you need are in the file from the previous step.

Step 3: Cutting stock to size Cut the top and bottom pieces of plastic with a table saw. Author’s Note: Try not to make the mistake identified here - use a riving knife and anti-kickback pawls for this cut - HDPE plastic will grab that blade and will kick back. Use the bandsaw to cut the corners and a sander (if you have one) to make them smooth to the touch. The horizontal band saw was used to cut the threaded rod at 5 7/8 inch as follows:

  • Take the threaded rod and two 3/8 inch nuts
  • Double nut and tighten the rod to prevent slipping at the 5 7/8 inch measurement
  • Place the whole thing in the saw and cut down the side of the nut face (the nuts keep your measurement accurate as well as preventing the saw from following a thread or grabbing at one and shifting the piece [highly unlikely])
  • Clean up the burs in the thread with a 3 square file or knife file (ideally a thread file but not everyone has those)

After cutting the rods you will want to paint them to prevent rust in the pool environment. Another item to cut at the end of the process is the silicone rubber, cut it to the shape of the top and bottom pieces.

Step 4: Drill Press Time! The author drilled each plastic piece individually. This was done because the author didn’t have access to a clamp to secure the two pieces together while drilling the holes at the edges. If you don’t use a clamp, not only do you get poorer alignment of your holes but it also takes twice as long. A small part of you also dies of boredom. To maintain alignment the author cycled through all the cutting processes without removing clamps. Doing that is really not necessary because HDPE is a soft plastic with lots of forgiveness for misaligned taps. HDPE by the way is a self-tapping plastic so this is an additional process, but it is worth it in the end. Please refer to the image on the website. In the second to last image you can see the author stacking the different layers to align for drilling the 1/8 inch holes around the edges. This ensured alignment as well. Also if you are going to go with small bolts for securing the rubber to the plastic, you may want to consider the extra step of drilling a counter bore with an end mill if you have one - this allows the bolt head (if using pan head) to be sunk below the step's surface, preventing it from rubbing on your feet or scratching the floor below.

Step 5: Securing the Cane The cane is attached via the PVC pipe affixed to the bottom of the top plastic board. The pipe itself is screwed into the flange, which is attached via small bolts through the plastic board. To make the cane removable a ½ inch hole was drilled through the cane and the PVC nipple. The pin fits in the hole. In the end I did not use a pipe cap (from the invoice and the sketchup file) at the end of the nipple as it was not necessary.

Step 6: Assembly! First, the author attached the rubber to the plastic with bolts; the author only affixed the bottom piece and part of the top, and however it is best to leave it off until the boards are together so that the rubber is out of the way. Next, I clamped the two boards together at final height by cutting some wood spacers between the boards and clamping on the whole stack. Then I threaded the rod through the top of the piece, stopping half way to thread on the nuts and washers in the right order to secure the rod in place latter. Finally, thread all the pieces together and snugged up the nuts on the rod. Don't over tighten the nuts as they will likely pull the plastic threads out of the boards and all your hard work will go down the drain. This step is strong in vertical loading, however side loading was something the author became worried about. Not only was there not a very good bearing surface in the event of a side load but also all side loads would stretch the plastic threads, causing looseness in the holes. Therefore as an additional last step I tied some cross bracing guide wires from each corner to the other.

Step 7: Product testing Try out the product. In total the project took about two 8 hour days to make from start to finish.

Author: RandySeccafien

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as of: 
02/01/2016
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EZ Style stair step