oak staircase

horsefeathers · Post by **horsefeathers** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:06 pm

what would be the opinion on wedging up an oak stringed staircase with ply risers and mdf treads with oak wedges to match the strings or softwood wedges for possibly more squashing/ grip????

dirtydeeds · Post by **dirtydeeds** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:35 pm

i dont make staircases but a couple of things come to mind

ive seen them made and the wedges are glued in

i repair stairs and the wedges have always been glued in

ive scanned books on making staircases and they all seem to say glue the wedges

so as they are glued in the question as to grip of oak or softwood wedge is not as relevant as you might think

Mr Mike · Post by **Mr Mike** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:47 pm

....personally I would use softwood, as any 100 year old + staircases I've ever had to work on have always used softwood wedges (for economics most probably) and secondly, you're not going to see them (in most cases).

Ideally you'd want nice well seasoned timber.....the last thing you want is shrinkage in your wedges once they've been glued and hammered home.

Steve. F · Post by **Steve. F** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:11 pm

I agree
I would say that oak wedges is overkill.
A good dry piece of pine is adequate for your wedges, if need be store indoors for a while to get moisture content right down and glue in with some polyurethane adhesive.