VARIOUS STAIR ARRANGEMENTS. There are many ways of building stairs; what may be suit able in one place, may not be in another. What ever style is wanted, however, should be care fully laid out, so that no part will be stuffy or crowded.
Fig. 81 shows a very pretty arrangement for a residence. It is neither an open nor a boxed stairway. It is planned to lead from the recep tion hall adjacent to the library. It is built of quartered oak; the high paneling next the library side gives it the appearance of semi privacy, while the top of the paneled wall has a wide shelf on which to set bric-a-brac, if desired. The space from floor to floor is 10 feet 3 inches; and, as there are 17 risers, it leaves 7 inches for each rise. The platform coming at the ninth rise is 5 feet 5 inches from the main floor. The space under the platform is not lost, for on the library side a commodious bookcase is arranged with art glass doors; while, on the other side, drawers are made to fill the space; these open into a closet adjacent to the dining room.
In constructing an open stairway, where the stairs have a landing and the lower part of the stairway is open, while the upper part is closed from the landing to the floor, the angle newel in the intersection of the two flights at the plat form should be omitted. In place of it, continue the portion enclosing the upper flight far enough into the platform as shown at a, Fig. 82, to receive the stringer of the bottom flight. At the angle, the portion is shown closed with stuff equal in thickness to the thickness of the stringers; and the stringer of the closed upper flight, which is on the inside of the portion, will butt against the casing. The rail of the bottom flight will be fastened to the casing above the bottom stringer; while the rail for the upper flight will have to be fastened on brackets to the side of the portion, and is known as a wall rail.
Winders should never be used if it is possible to avoid them, their great objection being the narrowness of the tread along the line of travel, which is a line generally taken about 14 inches from the rail. Where they are absolutely neces sary, it is better that the rail be made continu ous with the ends of the treads in the form of a cylinder, and that the risers do not radiate from a common center.
Where angle posts are used, care must be taken so that they are centered on the carriage with the rail centered on the angle posts. This should bring the out side balustrade flush with the finished string, as shown in Fig. 83. The height of
the rail should be about 2 feet 4 inches, or 2 feet 6 inches above the tread, measured on a line with the face of the riser; and on landings the height of the rail should be 2 feet 8 inches above the floor.
In these days the mills are very accommodating, and will, as a rule, work out any stair problems that the carpenter may have.
The principal thing for the carpenter to con skier in planning a stair is to see that he has sufficient room to get the required number of steps and ample head room. If he is sure of these, the mill will usually do the rest of the designing for him.
In constructing the rough framework for the stairs, care must be taken to have the stringers sufficiently strong to carry the weight. They sbOuld never be less than 6 inches in the nar rowest part. As a rule, it is best to put all of the rough framework for the stairs in place before the lathing and plastering is done.
Stair to Fit Circular Wall. It is sometimes a problem to lay out the string to fit around a circular wall, as for the stairs shown in Fig. 84. This may be done as follows: Measure the curve of the wall, as from A to B, taken at the floor line. This length will correspond with the natural run, as from A to C. To this, set up the rise of the stairs, which in this case would be 6 X 7 = 42 inches, as from A to D in the diagram; and D to B will be the required length of the string. The back of the string can then be kerfed the same as for the ordinary base or for a curved riser; but the kerfs must be cut parallel with the risers.
These diagrams should be laid off full-size, from which accurate measurement can be taken.
Kerfing a Riser. Saw kerfing is a simple thing when understood. By the method shown in Fig. 85, a piece of wood may be bent to any radius, no matter how thick or thin the material may be, or how thick or thin the saw may be.
If for a circle to bend, say, three feet in diameter, take a piece of stuff about one and one-half inches wide, as A, and of the same thickness as the material to be used. Now take the radius of the curve desired—in this case eighteen inches—and make a kerf that distance from the end, as BC, to the depth required.
Next clamp A down to the bench E close to the kerf and raise the radius end till the cut comes together tight, and take the height with the steel square F from top of bench to under side of piece. This will give the space between each kerf to bend the riser or any other curved member to the radius desired.