A rope ladder, owing to its portability, is for some purposes more suitable than one made of wood, especially where the ladder is to be hauled up when not in use. Fig. 150 shows a rope ladder which is made of four-strand rope; the rounds are turned out of oak to the form shown in Fig. 151. The groove at the ends is for the reception of the strands of the rope. The rounds are rather more than 1 in. in diameter, and are placed 11 in. apart. The strands are opened with a marlinespike and the rounds inserted between them, two on each side: a seizing is put on below each round; a round thimble is put into the upper bight, and an eye seizing is clapped on below it. The lower ends are generally spliced together, or a thimble may be spliced in, as at the upper end, if it is intended to make the lower end fast.
Fig. 152.—Single Rope Ladder with Chocks.
Fig. 153.—Toe Chock for Rope Ladder.
Another form of rope ladder is shown in Fig. 152. A number of oak chocks (Fig. 153) are turned, usually about 5 in. in diameter and 5 in. deep, bored to 1 in. diameter with the grain of the wood; this will take a 3-in. four-stranded rope. Splice an eye at one end and seize in a thimble for the lashing; put on one of the wooden steps, flat side uppermost towards the thimble and about 30 in. down. Insert a strand of ratline stuff between two strands of the rope, and with the two ends of the strand work a “wall knot” round the rope, then a “crown,” which will bring the ends down to the first turns of the wall. Pull the parts up tight, and follow them round once; the result will be a neat knot looking like a two-parted Turk’s head. If preferred, two strands may be inserted crossing each other at right angles between the four rope strands; then with all four ends work a double wall knot round the rope. Between the knots, spaced 15 in. apart, slip on the wood. Do not cut off the ends short until the knots have got well jammed up.
Fig. 154.—Rope Ladder with Rungs.
Fig. 155.—Wood Rung.