The Arch Stairs command adds “Stairs” based on the length and direction of a selected edge.
The stair command can use edges from the Sketch Work Bench or Draft Workbench.
The procedure for adding stairs is quite simple, especially for a single flight of stairs. Select a single edge and click the stairs icon. The finesse surrounds the edge you select. For a single story, straight set of steps use a single line in Draft or dedicate a sketch with a single line.
Pictured below is a draft line, when the line is selected and the Stair tool is activated a staircase will be calculated and rendered based on the lenght of this line.
The line can then be edited and the Stairs will be redrawn to match the new line. It is possible to create quite ridiculous stairs so caution should be taken.
Creating Multiple flights of Stairs.
The most direct approach I found to create multiple flights of stairs is to use multiple edges in the draft workbench. To create a four flight staircase create add four lines in the shape of a square
Add the four lines., one at a time, don’t use a poly-line or a rectangle.
Make sure you start each line at the end of the previous line so all the lines have the same orientation.
The stairs will start were you first line starts.
Select all four lines, and click the Stairs Icon
The stairs will be added, one story per line, following the line numbered
The spiraling direction of the Stairs can be controlled by how you draw the lines. Below the lines where add Anti-Clockwise on the left and Clockwise on the right. ( Notice the one on the right ran into some problems with overlapping stairs )
To fix the landing change the alignment to the opposite side and adjust the edges to the appropriate length.
Some of the Property Details
Stairs
- Alignment – Determines if the Staircase is rendered to the left of the edge, to the right of the edge or centered over the edge. Below you can see a single flight of stairs with all three alignements.
- Height and Width – Can be modified to adjust these dimension of the Staircase
Steps
Number of Steps – Modify the total number of steps in the Staircase.
Calculated Values ( Read Only )
- Nosing
- Riser Height
- Tread Depth
- Tread Thickness
Railings
Railings are subobjects with thier own settings, the settings avaible within the Stair properties are only a subset
- Railing Height ( Right and Left Railings ) – Height of railing above tread
- Railing Offset ( Right and Left Railings ) – Distance of railing from wall.
The railing height is how far the railing sits above the tread. The left railing was set to 450 mm above the tread. The right railing was set to 120 mm from the right “stringer/wall”
There is quite a bit more in the Stairs tools, but this is a good start. Additional items will be covered in and article marked advance stairs. Keep an eye out !