Too cold to work outside, so I have another project!

I have done a lot of round cone roofs and I always wanted to build a circular stairway. I designed this about 30 years ago, and finally got the right equipment to do the job. this is really slick.

I can take a few measurements and lay it out and make the pieces so that it fits together perfectly. I am working to make one that bolts together too. Does anyone need a set of circular stairs? I hate the ones that wrap around a pole, and they are dangerous too.

https://picasaweb.google.com/crookston.john4/CircularStairs?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyWgo-qi4X7jAE#5975207976323651986

What happened to my pictures?

https://picasaweb.google.com/crookston.john4/CircularStairs?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyWgo-qi4X7jAE#5975207976323651986

I'm having no luck opening your photos lately

Too cold outside? :laugh:

Tom, click on the URL on the second post. I don't know why I am having troubles, but the pics are on the second one.

That's pretty friggin sweet!

Dang, that's impressive!

That awesome! Is that your shop? IF it is I'm jealous!!! Where is the stairs going?

Copper, It is my younger brothers shop, (classic Gutters)and he does a lot of different things in ther. A full machine shop, a pattern shop, he makes roll forming machines and also makes half round gutters and accessories to ship all over the world. It is 50,000 square feet and it is full! I help him a lot, and I get to use what I need. Kinda sweet!

I mentioned that the stairs are a scale model, about 1/2 scale, so they are not going anywhere. I came up with the concept about 30 years ago, and tried to make some out of aluminum, but I did not have the ability to cut the radiuses in the blanks until the plasma cutter came along. The computer interface makes it a lot easier, as you can draw it out on the computer and make sure all the details are what you want, and then cut out the pieces and fabricate them. It fits like a glove when it is done. I will get them done, and continue to take more pictures as I do and then have them painted and use them for a display model to try and see if there is a market for them. A full sized set would be too big to haul around, and I wanted to make something that could show almost a full circle, rather than only 3 or 4 steps.

95% of the "circular stairs" I see advertised are all the ones that wrap around a central pole, and while they are nice, I don't think they are really safe. We can't do any work in this cold weather anyway, so it is perfect timing. I will post pictures as it continues. thanks!

I went to Explorer instead of Firefox and got your pics just fine OS. Seems I have to do that more lately.

Hey Tom! glad you can see them. I fought for about a week to get my Picasa site up to post them. It is a "project' for me, and I am having fun at it.

Nice project, OS. On the surface building a scale model first seems like a waste of time. The sheet metal guy I use built himself an aluminum fishing boat. It's really nice, would probably cost 60 or 70k to buy a new comparable boat. He built a 1/4 scale model first and says he couldn't have done it if he hadn't built the scale model first. It now hangs on a wall in his shop, it looks like the sweetest kid-sized boat ever built.

I know. I wanted to build it though and it does get to be a bit "clumsy" as it is a Torex and there is no real side. The smaller one we can handle. I still wonder what it will be like to build a full scale one in a house; especially in tight quarters. It is such a neat looking product when it is finished though, I think they will sell. One of the advantages of the stairs that go around a post is that they don't take up much space. For the entrance of a house though, this would really be a "statement" and I think I can build them relatively inexpensive, whatever that means in today's economy.

I can make them swing in either direction without a problem, and the next one I am making is going to be out of aluminum and will bolt together. Shipping would be cheaper with aluminum though the material cost would be more. Easier to hold into place too. I will take the pictures as I go along and post them for all to see. Like you say, nice project.

A few more pictures of the stairs. I still have to install the hand railings yet. [url] https://picasaweb.google.com/crookston.john4/CircularStairs?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyWgo-qi4X7jAE#5977859155259924194[/url]

Why can't I get it to upload?

https://picasaweb.google.com/crookston.john4/CircularStairs?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyWgo-qi4X7jAE#5977859155259924194

here's what I was doing when it was 0 outside this week I built a back gauge for my brake. I have 1100 pieces of .032 drip edge to make before spring push. This should make the process a lot easier. Getting a 100 year old jump shear Monday.