Mike,
Long time back you posted this stair pic.
Can you tell me anything about it as to how and where it might have been made?
Reason I ask is I’ve one made of exactly same rail components and similar balusters.
Thanks
Peaceful,
easy feelin’.
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That swooping baseboard is sweet!
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Actually, there are several pretty cool aspects to it...
Mike: is that a new install or a refinish?
based on the distance between the balusters it must have been built a long time ago.
Yea - I saw that - one balluster per tread... That was part of the basis of my Q.
rez.. that was from a house up the street from one of our remodels..... i'll try to find the thread
anyways, that stair is in a lighthouse on the North end of Jamestown ( North Light )
now, maybe the Lighthouse service had standard plans... or parts of standard plans
that's an elegant stair... but the rails are very short.. from memory i'd guess maybe 24" above the diagonal nosing line
the stain looks like dark mahogany... but the species would just be a guess
and...as to the date......well, let's try this..
google on "North Light, Jamestown , RI"
http://lighthouse.cc/conanicut/index.html
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that light was probably replaced by navigational lights around WWIIMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
here's the link to the original thread
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=56875.1Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Last year I did a staircase for a contractor who worked only on govenment jobs. The job was the staircase in the house next to the lighthouse. When I pointed out that the plans shown to me for the staircase remodel didn't meet code and that there were inspectors crawling all over the jobsite. I was told that government jobs didn't have to meet code. I guess if you make the rules- you don't have to follow them.
Thanks for that.
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This close-up you took shows the detail of the rail that made me say they are identical to what I have and thus my first thoughts that there must have been a rail manufacturer somewhere one was able to order individual lengths and parts from.
But when placing a curved staircase out of a what, 10 ft high, Victorian house ceiling into a 7 1/2 ft height I had plenty of alterations to deal with,
and in cutting a straight length of rail to make an extension piece I noticed that the profiles, tho close, did not match up as perfectly as the one which can be seen at the revealed intersection line in the pic.
One depth of a rail was noticeably thicker than another and a slighter variance in the width tho' the top profile lined up well enough.
And seeing all the variable twists made amidst turning a curve all within one separate piece of rail it's leaning more to the idea these stairbuilders crafted those individual components on site which would be no small feat.
Quite something. Thanks again.
Peaceful,easy feelin'.
Edited 2/2/2008 1:23 pm ET by rez
one of my favorite books is by a stairbuilder named George DiChristini, and the name of the book is "the tangent method of continious spiral stair layout"
he describes at length the methods used to create those rails as well as showing a few pictures of the jigs they use at the shop to get them right. calling the man a craftsman shorts him, he is a mastergeniuscraftsman.
No doubt. I have that same book, it's a head scratcher to swallow.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
That sounds like a great book.thanks
I didn't know he wrote another one. The book I have is A Simplified Guide to Custom Stairbuilding and Tangent Handrailing, and the layout concepts really work if you have the time to digest them all and practice, practice, practice. I have done so much of this kind of rail work now, that I have a hard time going back to "bending rail" and stock fittings.
I actually looked George up several years back and called him to thank him for writing the book. He was incredibly humble, and we talked about how this kind of handrailing skill is dying out. He was retired, but I think his son may still have a shop somewhere in the SF bay area. The man is a definitely beyond genius.
TB
I would venture that it is a Walnut rail assembly.
my money is on mahogany - "there's enough for everyone"
I was referencing the rail and balusters. What I have is mahogany taken out of a turn of the century victorian. The rail is identical.
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Peaceful,easy feelin'.
ya - I've pulled similar stuff out of late 19th century buildings - I would guess Mike Smith's stairs are of a similar era - tho rather pleasingly executed with a colonial flavor - industrial revolution turned out miles of mahogany rail - "there's enough for everyone"