Replies

1. 
   Stilletto | Sep 04, 2006 04:06am | #1

   Do the winders have to consist of stringers?  

   I build tons of them with boxes stacked on top of each other. 

   I have posted these pictures a ton of times so guys if you have seen them before just don't look. 

       

    

   
1. 
   coolpuppy | Sep 04, 2006 04:20am | #2

   Thanks for the reply & pics.  The homeowner would prefer to have stringers.  It would be a lot easier and cheaper to stack boxes, but his personal preference is closed stringers.

1. 
   Stilletto | Sep 04, 2006 04:26am | #3

   Maybe Stan Foster or Riverman can reply to this then.  THey are the stair guys here. 

   I have read articles about doing it that way,  just haven't done it.      

    

2. 
   davidmeiland | Sep 04, 2006 08:14am | #4

   Here's an eBay listing for the Porter Cable housed stair stringer routing jig.

   http://cgi.ebay.com/Porter-Cable-Model-5060-Stair-Ease-Template-Jig-Router_W0QQitemZ180019975580QQcmdZViewItem

   The theory is simple, and I bet the execution is not that hard. To do winders you'd have to develop your own template for routing the stringers in the right places and lengths. It'd be a major head scratcher for me, but I could get thru it.... lots of time planning and laying out, a few minutes of routing.

3. 
   StanFoster | Sep 04, 2006 01:42pm | #5

   I prefer to build the winder section with routed in treads/risers.  I just use an extra long tread template and route for the treads.

   Longer wedges are needed....and on the side of the winder that is in line with the upper stringer...you have to back cut the riser  and the nosing routings.

   I will try to find some pictures of one that I built sometime ago. They were posted here and I will go look to see if maybe I can find them there.

    

   Stan

2. 
   andy_engel | Sep 04, 2006 05:06pm | #6

   That's what I spent last week doing.

   I find the key is to do a full scale layout on plywood. Helps to figure the geometry.

   Like Stan, I used a bigger version of my regular plywood jig for the winders, with a difference or two because the treads and risers don't intersect the stringer at right angles. So, I found it easier to make the jig a little shorter than the tread nosing. Slide the tread into its housing, mark the end, and notch it. That way, the nosing fits tight to the stringer, and you don't have to wrestle with angling the front of the mortise. Also, I didn't rout mortises for the risers. I installed the tread, used pinch sticks to get the length of the riser, measured the bevel angles with a Starret protractor, and screwed the risers in place.

   The biggest difference was in how I did the winder treads. Trying to restrain the movement of an 18 or 20 in. wide piece of 5/4 hickory would have cracked it in time. Instead, I made 3/4 plywood subtreads, and routed the mortises in the stringers to take them along with the treads. The subtreads exend only to the face of the lower riser.

   I routed half a dozen or so slots in the subtreads that were perpendicular to the grain of the treads. These were to accommodat wide head screws. After putting a rosin paper slip membrane between the tread and the subtread, I screwed them together. The tread/subtread assembly is glued to the stringer only at the wedge. The tread iitself is glued only to the back riser. This allows the tread to move, but forces all the movement forward, which the notch in the front of the nosing should accomodate.

   The subtread also adds a little more heft to what are pretty long treads. I assembled the stair in place, which differs from my usual practice. They're rock solid.

   Hope that helps.

   Andy

   "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein

   "Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom