This is an article that is not really about stair software but a visitor on my blog asked about making curved stairs. I have developed several techniques for different types of curved parts, cut strings, closed strings and handrails according to whether they are flattish, molded round etc.

Here’s the way I make a curved central cut string.

Note that although StairDesigner helped me set up the general lay out, the working drawings were drafted by opening the StairDesigner DXF files in Autocad.

Most of my curved strings are built using a technique I developed that I’ve called laminated layers. In fact to get the curved helical shape I glue together curved horizontal parts cut and calibrated from a flat board.

Here’s a photo of the  cutting and  calibrating the curved parts.

cutting layers on the band saw

calibrating on the spindle moulder

These parts are drilled and dowels used to reinforce the laminated assembly and stop slippage while gluing.

drilling layers for dowels

Note how I use the calibration template to precisely position the holes.

This photo shows how I glue the layers together using the dowels and template to align them.

Gluing the layers

For convenience I glue the parts together in blocks that are the height of one rise, and then assemble the blocks. This enables me to cut the helical under side with a saber saw.

Cutting the lower helical surface with sabre saw

I then assemble the blocks on a floor plan making sure everything is lined up with a laser plumb line.

Blocks assembled with laser plumb

Once the string assembled I glue  laminates on the layers to give the  string it’s finish.  To glue the face laminates I use some special clamps.

Gluing face laminates

gluing laminates on the underside of the string

This stair goes up into a circular stair well, here’s the stair well assembled inthe workshop:

Circular stairwell

Here’s the curved string with the stair well assembled in the workshop:

string assembled with circular stairwell

And here’s the stair assembled with it’s center post and steps in the workshop:

Completed stair in workshop

And from underneath:

curved stair in workshop

Hope this has been of interest to you.

To see a few stairs that have been build using this technique visit my web site at :

http://www.ntdesigns.org

If you would like more information on how to use this technique or on any other of my stair building techniques feel free to contact me.

 Mail this post ]]> http://stairdesignsoftware.net/building-a-curved-stair/feed http://stairdesignsoftware.net/how-to-calculate-stringers-outside-the-stair-well http://stairdesignsoftware.net/how-to-calculate-stringers-outside-the-stair-well#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:49:43 +0000 admin http://stairdesignsoftware.net/?p=255 Zoran from Belgium has asked how to draw the strings outside the stair well.

To draw  the strings outside the well  click on “String board param” in the StairWell Param tool box:

stair wel parameters tb

StairDesigner will show the String board parameters tool box.

Just tick the option “Stringboards in Stairwell” or “Stringboards off (outside) Stairwell.

stringers outside stair well tb

and that’s it.

Hope that this has been usefull.

Your can read the step by step instructions and download a PDF file on my last post at:

http://stairdesignsoftware.net/using-a-stair-template

My next video will show how to use a new very cool TRIANGULATION tool to  fit a stair into a non square stair well while still keeping the inside strings square.

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, DIY stair plans, drawing stairs, plans for stairs, plans to build stairs, stair cad, stair software, stairs plans

Using a stair template

The quickest way of designing a stair is to just take an existing stair design and edit it to fit your project.

To see a quick video demonstration click this link:

Using stair templates video

You can download a example stair project from the download page of this site. Each example contains the StairDesigner file and all the workshop documents to make the stairs.

If the stair fits your needs you can just take the plans and start building, but it’s more likely that you will have to adjust the stair dimensions to your specific project. With StairDesigner adjusting a model stair to fit any size is very fast and easy.

In this article I’m going to show you how to take one of our model stairs and make it fit another completely different stair well.

If you want to learn how to design a stair from a model read this article, then download the original model and follow the steps through yourself.

You can download the model from the download page or use the link below:

http://stairdesignsoftware.net/downloads/qturn%20winders%20closedstring.rar

Once downloaded decompress the file and open the SDS file in StairDesigner.

Here’s the stair drawing in StairDesigner:

Stair template drawing

I want to adapt the stairs to another stair well, here’s the sketch of the new stair well:

sketch of the stair well dimensions

Here are the changes that I want to make to the stairs.

- I want to change the stair from a quart turn to a half turn stair.

- I want to change the stair height from 2800mm to 2750mm.

The stair well walls are not right angled and the angles have been measured by taking diagonal dimensions across the stair well (2545 and 2589).

To simplify the assembly I want to keep the inner string and newels at 90° and adjust the outer strings to fit the walls.

Changing the stair well dimensions

StairDesigner stores the newel post offset parameters with each newel post. As the newels posts are erased when a stair is redesigned, to keep the same newel post offset parameters, it’s a good idea to note these down before changing the stair well dimensions.

Right click on a newel post to open the newel post menu :

Choose NEWEL POST in the menu and StairDesigner will display the NEWEL POST PARAMETERS for the selected post.

Write down the newel post offset parameters and reference point for future reference.

Repeat for each newel post.

Changing the stair well parameters

To start we will change the stair design to fit a right angled stair well.

To do this in StairDesigner open the STAIR WELL PARAMETERS dialog box by clicking the Stair Well Parameters button:

In the STAIR WELL PARMETERS dialog box change the flight parameters and add a 3^rd flight, your screen should look like this:

Note that the stair no longer complies with the STAIR RULE:

2R+H=>600<640 and the OK button is red.

Let’s use StairDesigner to optimize the stairs.

Click the HELP button:

You should see this screen:

StairDesigner proposes changing the 15 rises to 14.

Click OK and the STAIR WELL PARAMETERS dialog box will display with the new stair parameters and the OK button green.

In the STAIR WELL PARAMETERS box Click “OK” and StairDesigner will draw the stairs with their new dimensions:

Modified Stairs

We will now insert the newel posts:

Place the mouse over the position of the newel post and click right:

In the NEWEL POST PARAMETERS dialog box change the parameters to the original values that you have noted down earlier on.

Here are the intermediary newel post parameters:

Change Newel Post Parameters

Once you have inserted all the newel posts your stair is redesigned to fit another stair well.

It should look like this:

Finished Stairs

And in 3D:

3d view of finished stairs

In my next article I will be showing you how to use Stair Designer TRIANGULATION tool to adjust the stairs outer strings to follow the non right angled outer stair well.

You can download this article in PDF by clicking the link below:

stairdesignsoftware.net/downloads/using templates.pdf

If you want to see a video of how to edit a template click below:

http://stairdesignsoftware.net/using-stair-templates-video

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, DIY stair plans, plans for stairs, plans to build stairs, Stair building, stair plans

Stair caculator software and AutoCAD

StairDesigner can calculate and build and draw stairs very fast and efficiently but as with all parametric software whether it is stair software or not, it doesn’t cope with all the intricacy and complexity of real world situations.

I find that once StairDesigner has drawn up the general stair plans it’s often necessary to add details or modify the design to adapt to my construction techniques and the specific on site situations.

In the majority of projects that I have its rare that I only have the staircase to build. In general the staircase needs at least a balustrade around the stair well, where as more than often I need to design many elements that parametric stair software is not built to cope with, like balustrades around complicated stair wells, cupboards under stairs, specific handrails and balusters, curved steps, etc, etc……

After having looked around at other design software I’ve finally come to the conclusion that although parametric software is great for stair calculations and design, only general drafting software like Autocad can really cope with all the different situations that I come across in my real life stair design situations.

Leaving out the design details, specific moldings, cupboards, here are some of the main limitations that I have found with the StairDesigner parametric stair calculator:

- Doesn’t draw bull nose and curtail steps and curved risers.

- Doesn’t draw starting volutes

- Can’t give different thicknesses for strings on each flight

- Doesn’t design the string and handrail transitions to level landing

Luckily StairDesigner drawings can be exported in DXF and opened in a general drafting software to update and modify the design details.

In this video I show how to take a stair built in StairDesigner and open it in Autocad to add a bullnose step.

Of course I use AutoCad but the same process can be used with any CADD software that can read DXF files.

If you are only interested in building manufacturing drawings then a 2D drafting program like Solid Edge is easily enough. For 3D presentation a dedicated rendering tool is probably easier than AutoCad.

The interesting thing about combining CAD and StairDesigner is that it gives unlimited design possiblities for adding and modifying the stairs.

To read our review on StairDesigner just click on the link below:

<Stair software review>

Here are some other articales for AutoCad users:

Spiral Stair case problems - AutoCAD Forums
Spiral Stair case problems AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering.

3d Curved stair - AutoCAD Forums
Making stair in 2d and 3d with AutoCAD

Creating a New Drawing by Using Parts from Another Drawing
Create a separate staircase drawing by using the staircase you’ve already drawn.

 Mail this post

Technorati Tags: autocad, cadd, calculator, curved, software, stair, staircase, stairway, step, string

I wrote this article to answer a question from a subscriber to our mailing list who asks if Stairdesigner software can build freestanding spiral stairs.He sent me the example of the staircase built 130 years ago in the chapel Loretto, Santa Fé New Mexico.

Here’s a picture of this staircase. The text says: “Nobody can explain how this staircase can stand up, because there is no central post”

You can download a very interesting slide show that tells the story of this staircase (unfortuately only in French) from this link below:

<Mystical freestanding spiral stairs>

This stair is a free standing spiral stair with detailed ornamentation, built with traditional methods.

As opposed to straight flights and even stairs with winders,  spiral staircase design is a more difficult task

StairDesigner cannot build a perfect representation of this staircase but it can help in setting out spiral staircase design and plans. Good stair software can make calculating and drawing up the initial plans for spiral stairs faster and easier.

The following video shows how to build a spiral staircase with StairDesigner software. Although not specially made for spiral stairs, this stair software enables  interactive parametric spiral staircase design and builds spiral staircase plans fast and easy.

It is to be noted that although this stair software does a lot of the tedious calculation and design work for these spiral staircase plans, the design details can’t be drawn in StairDesigner. To draw up complete detailed plans of the Loretto staircase the StairDesigner DXF files would have to be loaded into more general design software for modeling and rendering.

A part from the detailed moldings and sculptures that this stair software doesn’t draw, I find that the main short comings of StairDesigner for building the Loretto spiral staircase project are the following:

A StairDesigner stair plan can only have one complete revolution per stair. This means that a spiral staircase design with several complete revolutions that cross over one another as in the Loretto stairs, have to be designed as several separate stairways, with one revolution per stair, and eventually exported and joined up together. Although this is possible, if you often build spiral stairs with many flights spiraling up over one another this can be cumbersome.

I find that in general, it is rare that a spiral stair designs are more than one revolution between floors or landings and the project is usually very easily split up into separate manageable spiral stair plans. If necessary it’s easily to assemble the different stairs around a landing, using CAD software after each ahs been designed separately. This said I rarely do this and find that it’s easier to just draw the design details around the landing areas.

StairDesigner draws the risers the same length as the steps. This means that if you want to miter the risers to the strings they will have to be shortened and the miters redrawn using CAD software. It’s to be noted that although you cannot adjust the riser length the assembly details between risers and steps is very easy to define using the “Parameters-Steps-Risers” menu.

A part from these points StairDesigner can build freestanding spiral stairs fast and easy.

In conclusion I would say that this stair software is very useful for calculating and drawing spiral staircase plans. The majority of the details concerning part sizes and shapes are drawn out very well and the DXF files are clean and very well organized for efficient transfer to any CAD/CAM system.

This said, for professional stair design work it’s important to have some simple2D CAD software for modifying StairDesigner’s DXF files. In general you will probably find that this is so for any stair software or in fact for any highly specialized parametric design software where fine specific detailing is required. In my opinion StairDesigner and good simple 2D CADD software is an unbeatable pair for general stair design.

If you don’t have good 2D CAD software yet try “Solid Edge” it’s 100% free semi parametric design software and it’s really good.

To get a link to Solid Edge free 2D drafting, go to our download page,  just click below.

<free StairDesigner complementary software download page>

If you would like to download a free demo version of StairDesigner or buy  the full version click on this link:

< Buy StairDesigner>

Here are some other spiral stairs:

16 Spectacular Spiral Staircases as Seen from Above
Watch where you tread: some of these stairs have been climbed by kings and princes, prime ministers and presidents. Viewed from above, a spiral staircase can appear as an ominous eye, an infinite fractal shell

How to build spiral staircases
Where can I find modular stair case kits, spiral stairs.

Technorati Tags: building spiral stairs, DIY spiral stairs, how to build spiral stairs, spiral staircase design, spiral staricase plans

This post contains 2 short videos showing how to modify a simple straight flight of stairs to make them into a stair of 2 flights and a quarter turn landing. the orginal staircase plans were calculated with the demo version of StairDesigner in the  recent “Calculate Stairs with a free stair caculator” blog post.

The example shows how to calculate and build a staircase with StairDesigner software using precise assembly details, giving a good working example of real life design for efficient design and manufacturing using professional stair software.

StairDesigner is an excellent parametric stair calculator, that draws the stair plans, and parts automatically after simple input of the stair parameters.

StairDesigner’s stair cad software allows you to calculate stairs, optimize the design according to the stair regulations that you input, and gives stair drawings and plans, cutting lists, detailed drawing of parts and a full 3D model with a few mouse clicks.

If you have asked yourself how to draw stairs, how to calculate stair stringers and stair treads, take a look at this software, it can really make your work easier.

To get a full review of StairDesigner take a look at our review page.

For down load reasons this video is in 2 parts.

Here’s the first part:

And here’s the second part:

Most of this design can be done using the demo version of stairDesigner but you will not be able to print out the workshop documents.

<To get a free download of StairDesigner software cick here>

If these videoshave been of interest to you don’t hesitate to come back. we will be posting other videos to show more indpth aspects of StairDesigner and how to organize stair design for smooth intergration of stair cad into the manufacturing process.

*************

Here are a few other articles on stair building that could be of interest to you:

Laidlaw Solutions Stairs Ramps Handrails Balustrades News 280109
Building design news Laidlaw Solutions Stairs Ramps Handrails Balustrades

10 Free “Project-Specific” Woodworking Software Programs
There are many cabinet design software applications out there. There are many free TRIALS available for cabinet design software. This is the only cabinet design software I found that was completely and totally free.

EZ Stairs blog » Traditional stair building methods
Building a staircase can be a daunting task for a do-it-yourselfer as well as a pro. Traditional stair building methods are rigid and unforgiving. If you miscalculate or need to make adjustments.

Atlas Stair Building
moneydick posted a photo:. Atlas Stair Building.

Building Sairs
Consult the national building-code requirements(BOCA) and the local building-code requirements.Somethime theres differant codes for differant locations.

Technorati Tags: drawing stairs, plans for stairs, plans to build stairs, stair cad, stair calculator, stair plans, staircase plans, stairs plans

Is free Stair Cad Software any good?
Is the demo version of StairDesigner a useful free stair calculator?
What can you do really with the free demo version of StairDesigner?

You can download a free demo version of the StairDesigner stair software from the Buy StairDesigner page on this site. But you are probably asking yourself so what?

- What does the demo version real stair software what can I do with it?
- Can I still draw stair plans?
- Is the demo version a valid stair calculator?
- Can I get a perspective drawing of stairs?
- Can I use Stair Designer as a stair stringer calculator?
- Does Stair Designer show me how to draw stairs?
- And probably many more questions will pop to mind

This series of articles is going to try and give you a clearer picture of the possibilities of the demo version of this stair cad software and the essential differences between the demo version and the full DXF version.
First of all the big advantage of the demo of this stair software version is it’s a free stair calculator. The demo version will do just about everything the full version will do except print and export files for CAD/CAM.
So you will be asking so if I can’t print what good is it to me?

StairDesigner demo version will do you some very useful work for you and for free!
For instance:
You want to just calculate stairs. Say you want a straight flight 3m50 long and 800mm wide, for a floor to floor height of 2m60.
First set your working units.
Open the options “menu” then click “units”. For our example choose your working units in mm.

Open the “File-New Stair- Multi flight winding” menu to open the “Stair Well Parameters” tool box.

This tool will calculate stairs for you.
For straight stairs just type in the length of the flight in the “Length” box
For instance in our example 3500mm
Then type in the width of the “landing step” (last step flush to the 1st floor) 100mm  for our example.
Type in floor height, 2600mm in our example.
You’ll see that StairDesigner gives a default number of steps at 16

The tool box should look like this:

Click “update” to calculate the stairs with your parameters.
StairDesigner gives “riser height” as 162.500, traed width as 226.667 and stair rule as 551.667
The “OK” button is red to say that the stair doesn’t fit into the limits of control.
If you click on the “control” button you will see the control tool box that defines the limits of control.
To get the stairs designed within the control parameters click on the “help” button.
StairDesigner shows the actual parameters and suggests modifying the number of risers to 14.You should see this:

Click “OK” . Stair Designer replaces 16 risers with 14 and the “OK” button is now green.

Click “OK”.

StairDesigner calculates the stairs and draws them giving all the information of height, rise, width etc..

Click on the 3D button and StairDesigner shows the staircase in real 3D!

This is just a short preview of how to draw stairs in the demo version.
In the next post we will add newel posts and modify the handrails.

To see just how fast and easy this all is look at the video below!

If you want to down load the free demo version of STAIRDESIGNER

Fill in the form on the top of the right side  bar.

Some other interesting posts:

Fix Creaking Stairs and Other Staircase Problems:
A staircase is an elegant piece of furniture

Stair design
Stair design rules and hints on construction. … Here I will be going through some points of stair design that I have used when designing a house, an addition or simply just changing a stair into something a little better.

Stair design
Stair design Pre-Design Discussion.

Technorati Tags: calculate stairs, free stair calculator, stair cad, stair software, staircase calculator, stairs cad

Here you will find helpful reviews, informative information and tips and much more. This site is in the format of a ‘weblog’ so that each time I post new information, it will come to the top of the front page. This means that you can check back here frequently to see new updates to the information found here.

You can navigate through the site by using the menus on the sides of the page. Also don’t hesitate to follow the links you see in bold throughout each post to learn more about the product being spoken about.

I hope you find the information I provide valuable and helpful.

All the best,
Ness Tillson

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Please contact me at ness.tillson@stairdesignsoftware.net

I will reply to all messages as soon as possible.
Ness Tillson

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