Still climbing and turnin

[StanFoster]

At 67 I still get goosebumps building curved or spiral stairways. It is not work at all to me. I am retired , dont need to do a thing, but here I am doing what I have loved to do for over 30 years. I will miss not building these, but someday I of course will have to.

My shop has three stairways I am building for a guy on the Shark Tank show. It has tempered glass risers and LED lighting glowing down through the 1/2" glass. Pictures in a couple of months.

 

[StanFoster]

 

[Brent Smith]

Historically, artists never seem to stop making art. Your stairs are art, Stan. If you stop, you die. So, why not live forever....

 

[StanFoster]

I normally make my own column...but my clients said that was too domesticated...they want rustic.. .So we compromised and I used a dead hickory tree in my woods, but made the treads and tread supports in my typical fashion. However, they are wanting that hacked up also.

 

[Brian Jackson]

View attachment 1152586

Hi Stan.

You've crossed my mind a few times the past couple of years and wondered how you've been. Always loved admiring your work, and have a newfound appreciation for it. Just completed a construction project designing a penthouse in Manhattan that included a huge marble spiral staircase. Could have used your help!

Glad you're doing well and posting here.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Martin W.]

I normally make my own column...but my clients said that was too domesticated...they want rustic.. .So we compromised and I used a dead hickory tree in my woods, but made the treads and tread supports in my typical fashion. However, they are wanting that hacked up also.

If you have access to an industrial sandblaster it is a way to make smooth wood rustic ... the sand slightly erodes the softer grains of the wood and can be very artistic as well as rustic .... cover the ends that fit in the post where I presume you want a tight fit (glue) ..... or blast the whole stairway once it is assembled. May even make the main post nicer than you planned .

 

[Martin W.]

Couple of examples of sandblasted and varnished wood .... briar pipes and log cabin interior logs etc.

.

 

[StanFoster]

Martin.....Those are nice examples of sandblasted wood that I will store in my memory bank...thank you. On this stairway , my clients version of "rustic" is surface splits, no glue lines, just a solid actual tree trunk.....with my "domesticated" treads to be a nice contrast.

It is really in a rough state right now....but I am going to massage it to what they want.

 

[fara]

Stan: keep making those works of art my friend. They are awesome

 

[DavePA11]

I normally make my own column...but my clients said that was too domesticated...they want rustic.. .So we compromised and I used a dead hickory tree in my woods, but made the treads and tread supports in my typical fashion. However, they are wanting that hacked up also.

People who want to hack up wood have no woodworking experience. Baffles me why people want that unnatural hacked up look.