Replies

1. 
   desertrat | Sep 29, 2005 05:14pm | #1

   You might try over on Breaktime, they're mostly carpenters over there and they don't bite very often.

2. 
   AndyEngel | Sep 29, 2005 05:44pm | #2

   Hi Jeff. I wrote FHB's housed stair stringer article, many years ago in issue 114. Porter Cable did make an aluminum jig. I own one, and its best use is collecting dust. As such, it's without equal.

   Just make a plywood jig. Laminate two layers of void free plywood so that it's an inch thick. Or use 1 in. MDF. Lay out the opening exactly as you want the tread and riser configuration to be, but longer so that your cuts exit the back of the stringer to provide room to drive in the wedges. Use a 3/4 in. pattern routing bit, and you're in business.

   Andy Engel

   Senior editor, Fine Woodworking magazine

   An updated profile is a happy profile.

   Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig

   None of this matters in geological time.

3. 
   CTDurham | Sep 30, 2005 06:11am | #3

   Jeff,

   Collins Tool Co. makes a very simple but very effective Stair Gauge for approx. $50.  Basically it is two aluminum plates and you install a 1x4 between the plates then use a nail set to align the plates and lock down the angle with thumb screws.  I like this set-up because it doesn't matter if your trimming a 36", 42", 48" or wider stairway just cut the 1x4 to the right size.  Anyway it is a decent tool for a decent price if you don't want to make your own stair gauge.