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So, about 7 years ago I made a small set of stairs for my back veranda. These were made from the most convenient log that I had lying around which, unfortunately for me, happened to be a Stringybark. Stringybark is really nice wood, as long as you keep it dry. Back on the farm, we have an old stable (4 post spans with Redgum posts) that has stringybark rafters that are still solid after about 140 years. They have been kept dry with a well maintained thatch roof, then later a corrugated iron roof over a straw bale top. Anyway, Stringybark rots quickly when it gets wet and my negligence of not regularly oiling the stairs resulted in them going rotten. Remarkably, even though one entire tenon was totally rotted through, the stairs were still very sturdy and there was basically no noticeable movement in them. https://pic8.co/sh/jrx3GJ.jpg

So, I decided to remake them during my Christmas break from work. A few years ago, the power company came out and cut down some Blue Gums that were growing too close to the power line. This isn't the ideal wood either, but It's there, the right size and free. I've been using these for firewood for a few years and probably have a few years more firewood in them still. I located a section of trunk that was nice and straight and about the right size (~10" diameter) and cut two lengths, one for the steps and one for the rails. https://pic8.co/sh/ShcPLr.jpg

These were lugged back to the workshop and split in half with the chainsaw. I also grabbed a trailer load of sticks (I'll be posting about what was done with them soon) and stopped once I saw a ~4ft long tiger snake (dog even got to ride in the cab of the ute home). I don't much like tiger snakes. https://pic8.co/sh/RUYYyG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/pci7Kg.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/FWI8HW.jpg

The rails were marked out to determine the location of the main mortices. The corners of them were drilled through and the bulk of the material drilled out with a 35mm spade bit. The remainder chiseled out roughly, then finished to the desired size (~50mm x 100mm). https://pic8.co/sh/Npk1SO.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/nxQE8O.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/FkBOzP.jpg

With the main mortices done, I moved on to the tenons. Each tenon is about 140mm long and includes a wide shoulder to ensure that bending loads are well handled. The tenon shoulders were cut with a hand saw, then the bulk of the material was removed. After a bit of experimentation, I found that pounding an old axe head in with a hammer was the quickest way to remove the bulk. This brought the tenon to within ~1/2" of final dimension, after which I transitioned to chisels then to hand planes for final dimensioning. https://pic8.co/sh/Nzyxv2.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Uo97ZG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Ca9xUc.jpg

Once the tenons were cut, I went back to the rails and cut the shoulder mortices. This was done by drilling the corners to depth using a forstner bit with a depth stop, then the bulk was chiseled out and the bottoms cleaned up with an hand router plane. https://pic8.co/sh/lXZB6c.jpg

The ends of the rails were trimmed off. I used a circular saw to make an accurate cut as deep as I could, but finished with hand saws as it was far too thick for my circular saw. https://pic8.co/sh/gIaBz8.jpg

The old stairs were attached to the veranda with lag bolts that attached to angle iron brackets dyna-bolted to the brickwork. A narrow angled mortice was cut into the end of each rail. This is a real pain to cut as the grain runs diagonally across the narrow mortice. Shallow holes were also drilled to give clearance to the dyna-bolt heads and a long hole drilled to allow a lag bolt to be driven in from the bottom through a hole in the mounting plates (hopefully). https://pic8.co/sh/hIj9uy.jpg

Everything now needed to be joined together. The mortices aren't super tight, but there is inevitable tight spots when bringing together a bunch of roughly aligned pieces. This isn't precision engineering. So, a sledge hammer (with a block of wood to limit bruising of the stairs) was used to help convince the pieces to go together. In addition to being difficult, it was also very heavy. Eventually, I got everything together and installed some wedges to hold it all together. https://pic8.co/sh/djfu4f.jpg

The assembled stairs were given a coat of deck oil and moved into position. Amazingly, they lined up with minimal fucking around. https://pic8.co/sh/D6Clox.jpg

Now they're done. Hopefully these should last a decade or so, even if I neglect them horribly. Interestingly, I ended up having to add a footer to one side. Not sure how it ended up out of alignment, but probably a bit twisted when I assembled it. Steps are extremely solid again now. https://pic8.co/sh/z0o7NA.jpg

So, about 7 years ago I made a small set of stairs for my back veranda. These were made from the most convenient log that I had lying around which, unfortunately for me, happened to be a Stringybark. Stringybark is really nice wood, as long as you keep it dry. Back on the farm, we have an old stable (4 post spans with Redgum posts) that has stringybark rafters that are still solid after about 140 years. They have been kept dry with a well maintained thatch roof, then later a corrugated iron roof over a straw bale top. Anyway, Stringybark rots quickly when it gets wet and my negligence of not regularly oiling the stairs resulted in them going rotten. Remarkably, even though one entire tenon was totally rotted through, the stairs were still very sturdy and there was basically no noticeable movement in them. https://pic8.co/sh/jrx3GJ.jpg So, I decided to remake them during my Christmas break from work. A few years ago, the power company came out and cut down some Blue Gums that were growing too close to the power line. This isn't the ideal wood either, but It's there, the right size and free. I've been using these for firewood for a few years and probably have a few years more firewood in them still. I located a section of trunk that was nice and straight and about the right size (~10" diameter) and cut two lengths, one for the steps and one for the rails. https://pic8.co/sh/ShcPLr.jpg These were lugged back to the workshop and split in half with the chainsaw. I also grabbed a trailer load of sticks (I'll be posting about what was done with them soon) and stopped once I saw a ~4ft long tiger snake (dog even got to ride in the cab of the ute home). I don't much like tiger snakes. https://pic8.co/sh/RUYYyG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/pci7Kg.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/FWI8HW.jpg The rails were marked out to determine the location of the main mortices. The corners of them were drilled through and the bulk of the material drilled out with a 35mm spade bit. The remainder chiseled out roughly, then finished to the desired size (~50mm x 100mm). https://pic8.co/sh/Npk1SO.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/nxQE8O.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/FkBOzP.jpg With the main mortices done, I moved on to the tenons. Each tenon is about 140mm long and includes a wide shoulder to ensure that bending loads are well handled. The tenon shoulders were cut with a hand saw, then the bulk of the material was removed. After a bit of experimentation, I found that pounding an old axe head in with a hammer was the quickest way to remove the bulk. This brought the tenon to within ~1/2" of final dimension, after which I transitioned to chisels then to hand planes for final dimensioning. https://pic8.co/sh/Nzyxv2.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Uo97ZG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Ca9xUc.jpg Once the tenons were cut, I went back to the rails and cut the shoulder mortices. This was done by drilling the corners to depth using a forstner bit with a depth stop, then the bulk was chiseled out and the bottoms cleaned up with an hand router plane. https://pic8.co/sh/lXZB6c.jpg The ends of the rails were trimmed off. I used a circular saw to make an accurate cut as deep as I could, but finished with hand saws as it was far too thick for my circular saw. https://pic8.co/sh/gIaBz8.jpg The old stairs were attached to the veranda with lag bolts that attached to angle iron brackets dyna-bolted to the brickwork. A narrow angled mortice was cut into the end of each rail. This is a real pain to cut as the grain runs diagonally across the narrow mortice. Shallow holes were also drilled to give clearance to the dyna-bolt heads and a long hole drilled to allow a lag bolt to be driven in from the bottom through a hole in the mounting plates (hopefully). https://pic8.co/sh/hIj9uy.jpg Everything now needed to be joined together. The mortices aren't super tight, but there is inevitable tight spots when bringing together a bunch of roughly aligned pieces. This isn't precision engineering. So, a sledge hammer (with a block of wood to limit bruising of the stairs) was used to help convince the pieces to go together. In addition to being difficult, it was also very heavy. Eventually, I got everything together and installed some wedges to hold it all together. https://pic8.co/sh/djfu4f.jpg The assembled stairs were given a coat of deck oil and moved into position. Amazingly, they lined up with minimal fucking around. https://pic8.co/sh/D6Clox.jpg Now they're done. Hopefully these should last a decade or so, even if I neglect them horribly. Interestingly, I ended up having to add a footer to one side. Not sure how it ended up out of alignment, but probably a bit twisted when I assembled it. Steps are extremely solid again now. https://pic8.co/sh/z0o7NA.jpg
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[–] • 1 pt

Nice work and awesome OC. Keep it up!

I hope to have a good shop in the future.

[–] • 1 pt

You don't need much to start out with. I started with a single #4 plane, a 5/8" chisel and an old hand saw (I think the same one that I used here). With those tools, I built a work bench (that I'm using), and went forward from there. Most of my tools are old or second hand. I do need a bigger shed though.

[–] • 1 pt

I have a few small hand tools and laugh took shop class growing up. Do they still have that?

I am looking forward to having a out-building where I can build whatever the hell I want in it. Who knows maybe someone will pay me for some of it. I don't really care either way. I want it for me.

[–] • 1 pt

Yeah, you really need to be making stuff for the enjoyment of making it and/or for yourself or family/friends. The amount of time it takes to make things means it's not really financially viable to make them for a profit unless you value your time very low. These stairs would have taken me 3 full days of work, so to get anything like a reasonable wage here out of them I would need to sell them for several thousand dollars. That's just not happening.

It's similar with wooden toys. Some people who see my toys tell me I could sell them. But, when I as what they would pay for them, it generally ends up valuing my time at less than $5/hr. I don't mind though, I do it for the enjoyment of making stuff.