My neighbor has a Miniature Dachshund that has been having trouble getting on and off of one of the beds in their home. I offered to build a ramp to help the dog get on and off of things. They sent me a picture of a commercial dog ramp that they thought was good and I deduced the angle and size of ramp from the clues in the picture.
I made the height/angle adjustable by having several possible holes for the strut to come down and brace the leg. I used 1/4” x 20 bolts and lock nuts on most of the pivots but used some 1/4” x 20 knobs on the adjustable position so it could be tightened and loosened without tools.
I built a perimeter frame out of 2” x 3/4” maple for the deck of the ramp that was 48” x 18” and put a 1/2” by 1/4” deep rabbet on the edge to receive a 1/4” natural birch plywood deck panel.
I made two frames for the strut and the leg out of 1 1/2” x 3/4” maple joined with lap joints. I rounded the ends so that they would contact the floor well and clear the deck when they pivoted.
I put a Natural Danish Oil finish on all the maple surfaces after sanding them to 320 grit.
My neighbor provided a rug which we cut to size to cover the plywood deck and my beautiful and talented wife sewed an edging on the cut sides to prevent unraveling. I glued the rug to the deck with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive.
As far as I know from watching the initial test with the young dog, he is not afraid of it and he ran up it without a lot of trouble.
