Building curved stairs;

[Richard Wolf]

Today we installed the backstaircase in this house and started production on the curved set. The pictures are of the stringer which is made up of 4 laminations of 3/8 plywood which has been scarf jointed together and placed in a vacuum bag over night to cure.
This house has 10' ceilings so the stringer on the outside curve is over 22' long, which is why they had to be scarf jointed together. I had to purchase a new vacuum bag becuase 20' was the longest I had.
The vacuum pump is the blue box on the floor. The clamps hold it in postion and the vacuum holds it altogether.

Richard

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Richard, That's the stringer? How do you cut the steps? And how do you figure out you need a 22 ft stringer for the curved steps? Does the regular rise run math work even if one side is longer than the other?

[Richard Wolf]

Well, I've been doing this for 15 years and it kind of all looks the same after a while. I used to do the math but now I've got a program that does alot of it for me.
The run is different on the outside and inside, the rise is the same. The steps are cut out with a template; see stairbuilding 101.

Richard

[Don Baer]

Neet start to a project. I'll look forward to the project as it progresses. Although I'll never build a piral staicase I can learn a lot from your technique.

(22 foot vacuum bag now that big...:eek: )

[Dan Larson]

Richard, I apologize if you already answered this question in one of your previous stairbuilding threads, but what kind of glue do you use for your laminations?

By the way, I enjoy your stairbuilding threads a lot. Fine woodworking on a grand scale!

Dan

[Bill Simmeth]

Very cool! Your work is really inspiring -- I always enjoy your pictorial posts. Most stair builders in this part of the country simply butt the treads to the closed stringer anymore.

Thanks for sharing this. Can't wait to see the progress unfold.

[Richard Wolf]

Richard, I apologize if you already answered this question in one of your previous stairbuilding threads, but what kind of glue do you use for your laminations?
Dan


I always use unibond 800 for laminating. The set time is controlable, it is a two part mix,(powder and liquid), it cures well inside the bag and there is no spring back or creep.

This house will be alot of work, the back stairs we built in the shop, we have the curved main stair and there is also a curved basement stair(see well under main stair) and the balcony is completly round. It's a larger job than I usually look for but the money always seems to be a motivator, so I guess I'll be working nights and weekends.

Richard