Housed and wedged stair jig?

[Larry Edgerton]

When I moved my shop I hired a couple of kids to help and in the confusion it seems that my stair jig was burned up with about 200 others that I did not have room for. I have a set to do and am going to build a new jig but would love to see ideas other have worked out.

The last one was adjustable for tread thickness and tread length, but I will have to start from scratch figuring it out as it was over 20 years ago that I made the last one.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, Larry

[Richard Wolf]

I know you don't want to buy one, this is the one I use. Maybe you can make a copy. The red fences at the top are adjustable for the rake angle.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...r_stringer.jpg

[Gregory King]

Larry, looks like I'll be watching too, since I will have to build a set in my daughter and son-in law's new home this coming winter. Stairs leading to the 2nd floor with the quarter turn. They have had a stash of red oak [4 years drying] in anticapation of this phase. Balusters and handrail designs will make it interesting. Hope you plan to post some pictures in the project section. I will too if you do. This could get rather entertaining. Greg

[Jim Andrew]

I won't be much help, have built don't know how many stairs, did it for years, never used a jig. Just measured the height and length, and laid them out with a steel square. The stair clamps which you put on your square are really handy, but I just laid them out on the 2x12's and cut them out with a skilsaw. Have to remember to cut 3/4" off the run of the top step, and shorten the bottom step by the thickness of the tread, and use the first for the pattern. Use a 2x4 between each jack and the wall, so you can slide a 1x12 between the sheetrock and the stairjack, and butt your finished treads and risers to the 1x12. Bought the stair rail router bits from MLCS, and built the rails and base rails for my daughter's house, and now my nephew's. Mounted double 2x4's for posts, and built 5x5 hollow posts to slide over the double 2x4's. Just made them loose enough to be able to shim the posts, push them down tight against the floor, and they are extremely sturdy. The last set of posts, I made panels with my freud door set, and left the top frame unglued, so I can knock it out and screw through the post into the end of the rails, and then glue it back in.

[Gregory King]

Jim, you are raising good points. The part with the 2x4 between the outside stringer and the wall is where my daughter's rough framing is now. Getting ready for drywall. Most of the staircase is housed on both sides by the walls. With the exception of the bottom three treads which are open on both ends. Looks like the handrail will require an offset at that point to look right. Not sure what other options might work. Greg

[Mel Fulks]

Made one for a one shot stair job based on one made of aluminum I had used in earlier employment.Just a riser and tread cut into 3/4 mdf.Non adjustable ,made for the needed rise and run . Same 2 degree wedge angle for both.Made it for use with large router template guide,1/12 inch diameter? .A wood strip is screwed on to align it properly on string board and then removed and put on the other side for its match.Template is slid to pencil line and held in place by 1 or2 screws while routing. Used 1/2 inch single flute bit to easily cut 3/8 inch deep. A couple coats of shellac where the template guide rides.If I had needed one adjustable ,would have bought it.I see a mistake, should read 1 and 1/2 diameter.

[Larry Edgerton]

Richard

That is a nice jig. It gives me an idea on how to improve mine. On my last one the whole tread thickness was adjustable so I could go from 2" to 1" tread thickness, but just changing the nosing section and varying wedge size to compensate makes more sense, much simpler. I like that jig but it looks expensive considering I may be a short timer. Still undecided on that.

Mel, I may just make a one timer out of MDF. I was thinking about it last night and with the job offer on the table I am thinking about, I may never need it again. The thing is my favorite part of my work is making jigs, so I tend to get too complicated. If you need to run quite a few pieces with a mdf pattern try treating the running surfaces with West System. Wears like iron.

Thanks, Larry

[Richard Wolf]

It is expensive, certainly not for the occasional use. I've had mine for years, but I think they are going for about $800 now. The aircraft grade aluminum drives the price up, but I'm sure with your talent, a reasonable copy couldn't be a big deal.

[Peter Quinn]

I have an old PC stair ease I got with a pile of tools from a retiring trim carpenter in exchange for making doors for his cabin in Maine. I see these around for sale now and then, lots of guys around here just sub all the stairs out to a factory with a CNC now. I've never used the stair ease, but I will be next spring for my own house. Here is a link to the company that makes the one Richard pointed to.

http://www.stairequipment.com/Model7.html

[Brad Morse]

This is my buddy, Keith. There's a few videos in the series:
http://youtu.be/xrFdO-y1YVM
I'll be doing 2 cherry tread, ash riser housed stairs in a few weeks.

Brad
www.uncarvedblockinc.com

[Richard Wolf]

Brad, that's some beautiful work you are doing. Welcome to the Creek.

The difficult part about stair building and hand railing, which is evident in Keith's video's, is that a tremendous amount of pre planning and anticipation of what lies ahead is of utmost importance. The problem the novice runs into, is obviously they are unaware of want situations and problems they may run into, That's where experience comes into play, but most people don't what to be that experienced in stair building.

[Larry Edgerton]

Speaking of those unexpected difficulties.....


Richard, some one gave me one of those $180 Bosch electronic level/angle finders and I thought of it as a gimmickand did not use it for a while. I restored an Italinate that was a bit off here and there and tried it. It is one of my go to tools now, in fact I bought a second one. It reads in 1/10ths of a degree and has an accurate level as part of it. I used it today as my basement floor is far from perfect and got the exact angle for both stringers from level. perfect fit first time. Same for the top of a stair when I did not do the framing. It will also give miters of angles to the 1/10th of a degree. You may want to try one.

I made a new jig today but kept it simple, adjustable fence, and the tread thickness can be compensated for with bushings. Worked fine, just have to assemble the treads and risers next weekend.

I used to have a stair-eze, but I lent it out and it never came back. Thats how we learn..... If I knew for certian what I will be doing in a year I would buy one of those nice jigs, $800 does not sound too unreasonable for a low production item like that.

[Carpenter Mark]

The aluminum stair template is a very good copy of the original cast iron Porter Cable template that stair shops used to use. I've had one (a Porter Cable UST) for years and have copied it in MDF with laminate on both sides for a buddy so I don't have to rout his stringers for him anymore (not a tool I'll lend out). I've seen them come up on Ebay from time to time for as little as $200-$250. You might call around to stair shops that have modernized to CNC routers; they might have one in a corner that they'll part with. While not as fast as a CNC, they're every bit as precise.