W. H. Wood

“ Should any part of a plan be a circle, it will when projected on to an oblique plane be an ellipse.
Thus, take any one round piece of wood, cut one end off square to its side, this end will be a true circle. Cut the other end to any angle, which will then be an ellipse, and when the piece is stood on end will be vertical over the circle, its plan. Fig. 1 shows this. And it will be seen, no matter what angle the oblique plane may be, the minor axis never changes, it is always the same length as on plan, as are all lines parallel to it ”

“ Next the centre line of rail is unfolded, or developed, on a board, with position of risers thereon. Then the centre falling line of rail is drawn, resting on the corners of the full-size steps and continued across the well. And here it is where good taste and judgment is required, so as to get a good falling. After the falling line has been drawn it will be seen at once if any improvement can be made in the position of the risers. The development of tangents is next drawn to suit the falling line of rail. ”

“ The farther it stands out into the hall the better it will look, but it must not obstruct the passage or be out of proportion to the size of the stairs. B should be in front of the second riser, or it will make the rail too high at the newel. A will be the face of the newel. Draw from A square to A B, and from C square to C B to meet in O. Then O A will be the radius of the centre line of rail, which draw. Then A B being level will be the horizontal trace.
Fig. 7 shows the elevation. Set up a tread and risers and draw the springing C as it occurs on the plan. ”

“ In drawing the winders keep the narrow ends as wide as possible, and for this purpose they can be brought past the newels into the strings; as we can have no sympathy with the system that crowds all the narrow ends of winders into the newels, by that means making the stairs unnecessarily dangerous. The dotted lines show the trimmers and joist; care must be taken to have sufficient headroom. It will be noticed that the wall string is jointed at both ends, so as to get sufficient width. When these strings are set out like this to a scale, it is seen at once what there is to joint on. Fig. ”

“ The short carriages C are cut tight in between F and F, and they must be wide enough to notch over the projection of the back edge of the treads, as shown by E, Fig. 6. If these short carriages are cut in tight it makes a good sound job, and rough brackets can be nailed on them, and blocked and glued as for the straight parts. ”

“ Draw P P to the same pitch as O O, Fig. 4; draw C H square to P P; make C N equal 4 4, Fig. 4. At Fig. 2 mark along R P, R S to equal 4 4, Fig. 4; make C S and C S equal S S, Fig. 2, and draw S E for the bevel T to be applied across the end of shank and along the tangent. ”

“ The last baluster on the step should be iron, shouldered to fit on the top of the tread, and a 3⁄4 pin on it to go through the step, with a thread for a nut to screw it up tight from the bottom. They are sometimes run in with sulphur instead of the nut ”

“ B must be about 1⁄8 inch narrower than the balusters, so as to go into the groove of the under side of handrail. The screws in B must be so that they can be turned either way with the fingers, while those in the sides must be so that A will slide up and down easy. ”