A pattern is used to create duplicates of an original
design. A good example of this would be the picture below. I laid out
and cut one stair stringer and then used it as a pattern to cut the
other two stair stringer's. There are plenty of other uses for patterns
or templates and they're used often throughout the construction
industry.
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Benefits Of Patterns For Stair Building
When I was building stairways for hundreds of homes, I would always take
my time laying out one stair stringer and then using that one,
specifically as a pattern for marking other stringers. It wasn't
uncommon for me to cut between 50 and 200 stair stringers per job.
Stair Builder Tip: Make sure that you write the word pattern on the
stair stringer that you're going to use as a template. Trust me on this
one, I can't tell you how many times I would forget which stringer was
the pattern.
What Would Happen If I Laid Out Each Individual Stair Stringer,
Without Using One As A Pattern?
There is a reason why I cut one pattern and then use it to mark the
other ones. If I was to lay out each individual stringer, separately, I
could end up with different stringers.
If I only made a couple of errors, moving my framing square in either
direction, a 16th of an inch, twice, while laying out each stair
stringer, I will have problems lining up my risers and treads. If I
moved it more than a 16th of an inch, more than twice, I could have an
extremely difficult time building a stairway that people could walk up
and down comfortably.
It's like reinventing the wheel, carpenters have been using stair
stringer patterns for years and it works. Remember, as a general rule of
some in the construction business, if something works well, don't change
it, until someone comes up with something better.
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