Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 30, 2000 05:32am | #1

   *
   Ken,

   Check the Tauton book store, or the archives. I'm sure you will find what you need. If all else fails, try a search at Amazon.com They have everything.

   Ed. Williams

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 30, 2000 10:34pm | #2

   *Ken, I bought the book called "a treatice on stairbuilding" and was a little disappointed, it talked in 19th century english and didnt really address basic stuff that we relate to. I do not know of any books that give you a formula for circles. In the st.louis area it was passed on by the old boys. Basically you strike an inside radius and an outside radius, then build 2 radius walls, notch them for rise and run, glue and nail 6 or 7 laminations of 16 in. luan, cut out walls, cut rise and runs in curved luan stringers and presto! if you want to e-mail me and I'll make you a drawing. Good luck "SPREAD OUT" Moe Howard

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 31, 2000 12:20am | #3

   *Kenneth, In my previous post I didn't mean to imply that building a circle stairs is snap, its a high skilled affair (especially the rough in). The procedure I mentioned is a quick description of a method. I think a recent edition of FHB had something about circle stairs. again good luck! allen

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 31, 2000 01:28am | #4

   *Ken,

   I would highly recommend these three books.

   If you are serious about wanting to build a circular staircase then these books will be indispensable to you in your quest to understand the dynamics of constructing one. I can only disagree with Allen's review of "A Treatise on Stairbuilding & Handrailing", this is one of the best books on the subject albeit in the pure language of stairbuilding.

   This is a great art form, one that I will never do justice. . .

   View Image © 1999-2000"The first step towards vice is to shroud innocent actions in mystery, and whoever likes to conceal something sooner or later has reason to conceal it." Aristotle

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 31, 2000 03:05am | #5

   *Joe, I must admit the book "treatise on stairbuilding" is detailed, concise, incredibly complex, and frankly over my head. I have never had any use for parabolic curves and some of intricate details of building grand stairs for the Titanic. I recognize that there are scillion dollar houses going up where these intricate details are useful but my average job is a 300-600k home with maybe a t-stairs in front and a straight one in the back. We're banging out 80-90 of these things a year. One thing I thought was kind of a hoot was the author talking about the rise and the going instead of run. Tell me a couple of things you got out of the book that helped you out. Al "IT IS BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS" SOLOMON

2. 
   Guest_ | Mar 31, 2000 04:05am | #6

   *allen,

   For starters, design and style are up at the top. The sheer beauty of the stairs featured in this book is a lot unto itself. . . On a more technical note the section on handrailing was of great importance to me. It helped me understand the concept of "wreaths" and gave me the savvy to make sections of solid curved rails. Hey but what the hack, you could always use one like the one featured in the last issue of FHB.

   My favorite book on the subject I didn't even list because you can't get it anymore. This is the very first book I ever got on the subject. If you look at the check list in A & W you will see that it is the last entry.Williams, Morris. Stair Builders Guide. 1914. The best book I had ever photo copied!

   View Image © 1999-2000"Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblance's to that truth." Socrates

3. 
   Guest_ | Apr 11, 2000 02:35am | #7

   *Allen, You say your average job is a 300-600k home and you bang out 80 or 90 of these things a year.That figures out to about one house every four days. Either your the fastest builder in the universe or your full of crap, which is it??

4. 
   Guest_ | Apr 11, 2000 11:04pm | #8

   *Armin, STAIRS my friend, and yes I do bang out one about every 3 or 4 days.

5. 
   Guest_ | Apr 12, 2000 04:49am | #9

   *Allen, I noticed you used the word bang them out, does that mean you air nail them together like a set of tract house basement stairs? If so what are they doing in a 600k house. I don't mean to belittle you but I'm a stairbuilder too, have been for a long time; I can do 3 to 6 stairs a year depending on complexity. Granted most of mine are quite involved circulars however there is quite a gap from 6 to 60. If you have some magic method of building them I think there are alot of us out there that would like to know what it is.

6. 
   Guest_ | Apr 12, 2000 11:49pm | #10

   *Armin, I'm glad I finally get to talk to another srairbuilder. Yes I use nail guns, I thought almost everybody did except for the guys in black that ride horse drawn buggys to work. You are obviously making your own parts and if so I take my hat off to you. I work for several different stair companys who make the parts in their shops. We do circles and some pretty involved stairs also. What price range homes are you working in? I realize that there are custom stair men who blow me in the weeds but I guess I,m to old and tired to start my own shop and try to compete with the local stair companies. I did make a jig for cutting upeasings that works really slick. Keep the dialog going!P.S. Did you know that Metabo just came out with a 3 1/8 random orbital sander?

7. 
   Guest_ | Apr 13, 2000 02:48am | #11

   *Allen, Sometimes I feel like a real bonehead, it didn't occur to me that you probably install somebody elses parts. I suppose after doing that many of them you can probably do them in your sleep. As for myself your partly right.Yes I do ride a horse (no buggy) No I don't wear a black suit, I'm a Carhart man, my closet looks like Al Borland from Tool Time does my clothes shopping. As for a nail gun, no I don't have one but I use a brad pinner for trim. The price range of homes we work on is $250 to 900k with most of them in the 350-450k bracket. I,m pretty much self taught,school of hard knots etc. We start with the rough lumber, mill all our own parts except turned balusters. All our stairs are prefabed in the shop, numbered, disasassembled moved to the finishing rm. stained and topcoated. We deliver and install the finished product. Usually we try to time the installation so we are the last ones on the job. If that's not possible we wrap the job and try to make it plummer proof. I tried using off the shelf parts and working on site but I just couldn't get the precision I wanted without my full arsenal of shop machinery. Also I have a 600 mile range so site time would kill me for sure. The other reason I make my own parts is I simply can't buy them anywhere. I use alot of exotics in my stairs, Birdseye maple, Curly maple and Curly Yellow Birch, its become sort of a tradmark for me. That in a nut shell is what I do and thanks for the tip on the sander I'll look into it.

8. 
   Guest_ | Apr 13, 2000 10:38pm | #12

   *Armin, If you don't mind me picking your brain a little, what kind of drill bits do you use to drill for balisters in incline rail? I've tried different bits and always come back to razer sharp spade bits. What works for you? Allen

9. 
   Guest_ | Apr 14, 2000 04:03am | #14

   *Allen, I use high speed steel forstners from Lee Valley 800 871-8158They cut really nice and are inexpensive enough to throw away after a few jobs. By the way if you don't already have the Lee Valley catalog I highly recommend them they have alot of neat stuff.

2. 
   kenneth_bond | Apr 14, 2000 04:03am | #13

   *
   Does anyone know of any publications for curved staircases giving directions and formulas to build? Preferably freestanding.