French staircase

Covering stair building/handrailing, millwork, moldings, built-ins, shōji, ranma....
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

French staircase

Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:25 am

This one is at the site of a former French consulate in Guangxi, China:
French staircase at the ruins of the french consulate in longzhou, guangxi, china.jpg
French staircase at the ruins of the french consulate in longzhou, guangxi, china.jpg (526.97 KiB) Viewed 6065 times
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: French staircase

Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:44 am

So does this staircase have a unique history? Appears to be made of wood yet has a sort of metal wrap on the outside stringer. Hard to believe it's abandoned, yet when i was in China i saw many abandoned buildings but never with such a staircase.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: French staircase

Fri Nov 21, 2014 8:18 am

I don't know anything about the history, though it appears to me (it would be my guess) that a French carpenter was brought over to build it. The stringers are joined from solid wood sections, bolted, and then reinforced with an outside strap, which is not especially unusual in french work. Mazerolle's book has an entire section on metal staircases with wood elements, for example.

Here's an example of a French geometrical staircase from Mazerolle showing a metal strap attached along the stringer edge:
PB210002-small.JPG
PB210002-small.JPG (379.59 KiB) Viewed 6052 times
And another showing how the stringer sections of such a staircase are formed and joined - just like you see in the photo if you look closely:
PB210001-small.JPG
PB210001-small.JPG (397.34 KiB) Viewed 6052 times
User avatar
Timateo
Lurker
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2013 12:24 am

Re: French staircase

Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:36 pm

Hats off to the carpenter.
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: French staircase

Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:23 pm

Solid wood sections joined together as opposed to full length sections laminated up; i'm thinking that lamination wasn't used due to the fact that glues weren't readily available at this point and solid sections would be the only way to create such a staircase? And i agree, hats off to the carpenter for sure, i've not built such a staircase but can only imagine the work involved and the satisfaction in completing such a study. Personally, i would like to build one from solid sections as you get to work a solid piece of timber into that form which would be better than dealing with glues and laminations
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: French staircase

Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:27 pm

Also in working the solid section stair case the blacksmith element could be wirked into the wood adding a really nice artistic blend but also structural as well like in the photo's from the book and the consulate.
François Pernod
Raw Log Import
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:03 am

Re: French staircase

Fri Nov 28, 2014 2:26 am

The exterior steel banding is a repair because the stringers where sagging. You usually but the steel banding on the down side of the stringer where it can better deal with the tension forces. this stair case needed support in the middle or a laminated stringer, but they didn't know about laminating back into the 19th century.
Hope you understand my poor technical English.
file-small.jpg
file-small.jpg (337.25 KiB) Viewed 6005 times
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: French staircase

Sat Nov 29, 2014 5:28 pm

Absolutely understand thanks for that. Very attractive little staircase! Is the construction solid or laminated?
François Pernod
Raw Log Import
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:03 am

Re: French staircase

Sun Nov 30, 2014 4:57 am

the exterior is laminated, the interior is solid, three parts bandsawn, grain running level.
François Pernod
Raw Log Import
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:03 am

Re: French staircase

Sun Nov 30, 2014 4:58 am

I will post more pictures.

Return to “Interior Woodwork”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests