Cutting stringers for stairs?

[Ray Dunakin]

I have some projects in mind that will require a lot of stairs. Unfortunately, I have only simple hand tools and I have had much luck figuring out how to cut stringers fast enough to be practical yet accurate enough to be useful.

Does anyone have a suggestion on ways to cut stringers for stairs, that would be reasonably fast yet accurate?

[finescalerr]

Let me beg the question and suggest you get them laser cut. If you don't have a CAD program, send me the specs and I'll whip up something for you. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

Oooh ... take Russ up on that offer and have Dave cut them ... and then "somebody else" (whoever that might be) could have them resized to 1/35 for a sammich shop or something!  (Making progress on that and hoping it won't be terribly long till I actually need stairs too.)    -- Dallas

[jacq01]

   

and then "somebody else" (whoever that might be) could have them resized to 1/35 for a sammich shop or something!

    lazy b**  but good idea 

    Jacq

[gfadvance]

Ray, laser cutting is certainly the way to go for speed. However you could also go the laminate route ..... think of building up rather than cutting in the slots .

Sorry I don't have any pictures of previous stairs I have done, but will try to describe. Cut your material of choice to the width of the stringers but over long.... thickness should be half of the finished thickness required.

Tape the stringers side by side on square graph paper , at the angle of the stairs so that the "step" line is horizontal. Calculate the width of material required between the top on one step and the bottom of the next step and cut some strips(A) to this width. Also cut the material for your steps(B).
Then it is a matter of building up the stringer, place strip (A) on stringer ,lining top and bottom with horizontal lines for steps, use (B) as spacer , to form slot, then apply next strip (A) & so on.

Strips(A) can either be cut to the right lengths/angles via a simple jig or just cut roughly to length and then trimmed/sanded at the end. Steps again can be cut to length via a jig and then slotted into slots in the stringers when these have been trimmed and finished.

Trust this verbal description makes sense to you .... if not let me know and and I will make some sketches  

    

[Malachi Constant]

Shut up, Gordon!  We're trying to get Russ to make it easy for us ... I mean for Ray.   

Then Dave can sell a bunch of them and get rich ... and we send Russ a buncha thong-clad cuties to thank him ... everybody ends up happy.     -- Dallas

[gfadvance]

Dallas,

I am open to bribery to shut my mouth ............ sure you can think of something to send to me which would keep me occupied 

[mabloodhound]

One thing to keep in mind is getting the stringers made correctly.   Now I know in the days of old, many different rise to run sizes were used and the current production laser cut stringers are set at 45º, but this makes for a difficult stairway to climb.   Today's building code (and for the past 50 or so years) has a rise of 8" max. and a run (tread) of 11" or close to that for each step.   So if at all possible,try to make your stringers come close to that.

[jacq01]

  Dave,

  don't make it too difficult. We are modelers, no mathematicians.