aWorkaHolic

Kingfisher, your truly a craftsman. Beautiful Work

blackdoggie

Damn king are you sure you didn't get Norm Abrams to help you build that... thats friggin incredible!

CWELT21

nice stairs mac

BuiltByMAC

Finally got a chance to sit down, relax a bit and upload and optimize some shots of the finished deck with the two shorty staircases.





Both of the staircases are a stronger product than I have made in the past, using more elegant solutions as well. Not only do I want to build well, I want it to look tight too. Incorporating ideas from this thread helped me break from my "usual" way of building stairs. I tried Bonesaw's thought of an unbroken top/bottom rail for my outside rail. I like the look, I like the strength, it was a pain in the butt drilling out those balusters holes with my drill press though. I had to build a leg onto my drill press table and lean it over 30º or so. I needed the 10' rail to be horizontal enough so it wouldn't run into the ground halfway through!





I'll come back once the hot tub's unwrapped and landscaping is complete for a "Finished" pic for my portfolio. I might get a photographer in town to get some shots using his "aerial" setup. A digital camera, remote control and 30 ft. of plastic pipe gets his camera high enough to take "down shots." This deck actually has a profile similar to a stealth fighter so some down shots would be cool!

Now it's onto another skyscraper double decker. I really enjoyed building this deck for the simple fact that it was low to the ground!

Enjoy the weekend, guys, and thanks for your insights.

Mac

Bone Saw

******* dude, that is some tight looking work

Bone Saw

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6805833

neolitic

Damn fine work boys!

Bone Saw

few years ago I had this craftsman "rotozip" set that had a really nice beveling plunge router base (used it to make a couple of kiteboard prototypes before having the master jimmy lewis make me a custom) need to get another one to do the stair rail drillings

BuiltByMAC

Another beautiful staircase for your portfolio, man! Definitely post some pics when she's all finished too -

Mac

Bone Saw

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6833394
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6833395
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6833409
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6833412
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6833411

Mac, here are some shots of the "gable wall stud" supports. eliminates the beam and makes them rock solid

Bone Saw

http://www.putfile.com/cdac/images/142355 there she is, the router is the way to go for mortising the rails, far as the stair rails I used a beveling drill guide, Im still looking out for that craftsman set, guess its discontinued, but when i had it it had a real nice beveling plunge base, just an fyi, when using a 26" baluster, you need to use 36" balusters (cut down), setup scms with stops) for the inner stair radius due to pitch delta. the inner stair rail like the 3 leaf clover job, i used the connectors in lieu of mortised as it woult be an exersize in futility puting it together

NOBullBuilder

the 2x6 is a great idea on the center stringer i put them on both sides

John Hyatt

Saw,you planing on any rial on that cool stairway. J.

Bone Saw

not quite sure what you're askin

neolitic

Tell you what I'm askin'---what is that post holer in your pix? We use a hydraulic 2 wheeler, but all the rentals have gone to self propelled and they are a PITA. Rare that there is room to get a Bobcat rig in on our jobs.

Bone Saw

its a kanga skid steer, from cpi same company as boxer. it is the best purchase I've ever made, I can't even begin to go into how many different ways i use it, for drilling holes it is awsome, use to have little beaver and earthquake and although they worked great and did a good job it was still punishment, I've had 30+ holes dug in few hours without breaking a sweat. move the trailer around with it, load up all the tools I need from the trailer throw em in the bucket then go back to the work area and bucket the tools up, instead of going back and forth one handfull at a time. I also scoop up all the spoils and dispurse it in the woods, when I have a "running trash pile" I use the grapple fork to get it in the dumpster. I would recommend any one man show seriously look getting one.

neolitic

Thanks, I'll have to check the rentals on that one. We don't do enough of any one thing to justify that kind of purchase, but it looks cool, and smaller than a Bobcat. Next deck season I''ll be 60 and partner 61--got to make it easier, and easier!

mickeyco

Saw this the other day, I was going up the stairs and they were really, really, solid. I took a look underneath and the center stringer (carriage) of three was made out of a 2 x 10, no cuts, except top and bottom, and 2x material attached for the threads and risers. Didn't have the camera so I drew it out because it's hard to imagine without seeing, I'll try and get a pic if I'm out that way again (highly unlikely, not because I won't be out that way, but because I'll forget). Don't know if it was done on the cheap or for the strength.

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Ahren

Wow,

This is a really good thread. I'm in the company of some great deck builders. Let me open up a whole new can of worms and tell you how I do stairs. I don't notch the stringers at all. I use a router and dado out some 1 9/16" slots by 3/8" deep into the sides of the stringers. I use a 3/4" straight router bit and a jig to make the dadoes. I then round over the stair treads w/ a 3/8" round over bit. The treads slide into the dadoes and I screw through the sides of the stringers into the ends of the treads. With the treads rounded over, they fit nicely into the little rounded corner dadoes that the 3/4" bit made. This way, you still get almost the full strength of the 2x stringer. I can easily make a 14 step, 4' wide set of stairs with only 2 2x10 stringers with no risers or supports that has no bounce to it whatsoever. I should note that I only use this method for stairs with wood treads, not composite. That's a whole different story. Also, if you go much wider than 4', you have to add a center stringer.

neolitic

Welcome aboard.
I have used dadoes for interior stairs, both open, and with risers.
Closed ones I've done with a center stringer too.
Only use this method for short porch steps outside though.
Two things I don't like about doing outdoor stairs this way;
the dadoes leave a place to trap water/start rot (and make another place to soak with Cuprinol), and one must completely rebuild the stairway if the treads get damaged, or when someone wants to re-deck for what ever reason.
Also this approach works best when the treads are glued to the stringers, and that makes for kind of a messy experience with exterior construction adhesive IMO.

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