Steve wrote:Cool
I make paper templates of the stringers. They role it out on the 2x or LVL and make a nail hole at the points of the notch. They have it cut and installed faster than they can even lay it out using the other way.
Sometimes I make paper templates for the sink and bathtub holes as well as for archways. Sometimes there just isn't a good place to draw it out with a string on site.
I also make paper templates for the foundation anchor bolts. They tack it to the plywood and drill the holes right through it. It has a centerline mark and a 3d drawing (Simpson detail ) of how that anchor is to be used.
I have used paper templates for many other things I do not trust Bubba to mark out with his fat keel.
A full 1:1 set of plans for the builder to roll out on site and set up his materials on.
A bit like paint by numbers.
Seriously though, 1:1 templates for difficult setouts, cutting guides or fixing points is an excellent addition to just supplying a set of smaller scaled plans.
Barry.
JaredBanks wrote:It's nothing special at all. The stair parts don't need to be anything more than just an ordinary slab.
So you make stretchable library parts? Does that take much scripting? I'm curious what exactly you have/do/use.
Steve wrote:
Complex profiles are great. I use them a lot. However, it is harder to re-use them from project to project than parts that you can just stretch to match the new width of the stair.
The idea of using parts is that you can use them for modeling the entire stair if you need that, or for just one step that you multiply/distribute with elevation offset to construct a detail or section.
You start with the manufactures profile. Select the slab tool set it to 48" or what ever the width of the stair is. Click the profile with the magic wand. View in 3d. Save as library part. Thats it.
You can stretch the parts or edit the length or width you want.
But parts is not the only way to model a stair. It's just something you can do if you need it for some reason. Like for a materials list.
You could draw the stringer and model the whole stair at once using a composite wall. Same process. View in 3d, save as library part.
Steve wrote:might be different there as to here, but i just need to show in plan what the stairs look like.. maybe some elevations or 3d views of it and happy days... stair contractor does the rest.. its there profession, no need to tell them how to do there job... not having a dig at the fact that you do model that mach detail.. just asking the question..GeNOS wrote:Steve wrote:why go to that much detail on a stair anyways?? the guy building the stairs should know how to do it with out you telling him all that info.. if he doesn't then i wouldn't be employing him to build it in the 1st place.
Sooner or later you will need to make a section and some details for that stair. Then you will realize that it would have been faster just to model the stair in the first place. I don't think any of those stair tools are very useful.
Model the stair exactly as it will be constructed, keeping in mind what things you need to show up in your sections and details.
Lets apply the same reasoning to your details.
If you don't know what information is necessary to have in a detail in order to cut the stringers then you shouldn't be making plans in the 1st place.
You can't cut the stringer correctly unless you know what materials are going on it, and what the materials are at the landings.
What information in that detail above does the carpenter not need to know ? This is not a "drafted" detail where every line is individually drawn. This is what a live section of the model parts looks like.
Also, keep in mind that the carpenter is only one of several people who need the information in a detail. I will spare you the list, and a lesson on how information from the details is extracted to the schedules,list, specifications, etc...
The point I am trying to make with the detail is that I can model a useful detail faster than I can make a stair using any of the Stair Tools I have used. And my details are useful to me, the details generated with the Stair Tools are not useful to me.
If the stair detail is so unimportant that you can get buy with what the Stair Tools can do, why make a detail at all?
Why not just make a little note on the site plan that says " build house here". This is exactly what many of the builders who come to me for plans want. A bare bones, down and dirty permit set that will not keep them from building it any which way they want.
The "permit set" is kept nice and clean in the tube at the job site and will never see the light of day.
Good plans however, are for protecting the Client from builders like that.
Good details are also for showing the builder the reason why he is not at liberty to deviate from the plan.
A good set of plans and details is what keeps the tail from wagging the dog.
I make paper templates of the stringers. They role it out on the 2x or LVL and make a nail hole at the points of the notch. They have it cut and installed faster than they can even lay it out using the other way.
Sometimes I make paper templates for the sink and bathtub holes as well as for archways. Sometimes there just isn't a good place to draw it out with a string on site.
I also make paper templates for the foundation anchor bolts. They tack it to the plywood and drill the holes right through it. It has a centerline mark and a 3d drawing (Simpson detail ) of how that anchor is to be used.
I have used paper templates for many other things I do not trust Bubba to mark out with his fat keel.
only time i would detail it if it was something way out of the normal.
I don't detail stairs to the level talked about, and find Stairmaker, as bad as it is, generally gets the job done. However, if you do want to build them piece by piece, SmartParts has a pretty good object list available. I don't really use it, as above, but it would be easier than making everything.
i find the stairs to be a major limiting factor in ArchiCAD and extremely frustrating.
yes, you can model them with parts and detail with 2d, but it takes too much time.
Stairbuilder and Archistair almost get it right, but the stuff they get wrong really sucks.
But other major CAD and BIM programs aren't much better. Revit's stair tools are useles for any residential stair work, Chief Architect is OK for some things but has limitations, and Vectorwroks is completely useless.
I guess it is just the highly complex nature of stairs that makes impossible to design a good 3d tool that does everything you need. oh well...
yes, you can model them with parts and detail with 2d, but it takes too much time.
Stairbuilder and Archistair almost get it right, but the stuff they get wrong really sucks.
But other major CAD and BIM programs aren't much better. Revit's stair tools are useles for any residential stair work, Chief Architect is OK for some things but has limitations, and Vectorwroks is completely useless.
I guess it is just the highly complex nature of stairs that makes impossible to design a good 3d tool that does everything you need. oh well...
Still looking?
