Free-form stair

Module(s): Stairs

You can use the Free-Form Stair tool to draw free-form stairs.

To create a free-form stair

1. Click Free-Form (How).
   

   Activate Free-Form Stair in one of the following ways

   • Menu bar: Create Architecture Stairs

   • Palette: Tools Create area in the following module(s):

   Stairs

   • Configuration: Architecture Stairs flyout
2. Place the start of the stair's outline polygon.
3. Set the other points for the outline polygon either by entering X and Y vectors
   or
   using the automation tool or the polyline entry tools
   or
   by using the drawing aids in the dialog line and on the shortcut menu.
   

   When you draw lines and polylines, the following additional drawing aids are provided in the dialog line:
   

   Icon	Function	Use
   	No icon pressed in	The lines can be drawn at any angle. This is the default setting.
   	Enter at right angles	The line can only be drawn at right angles to the current system angle.
   	Cursor snap	The line can only be drawn at specific angles.
   15.00	Cursor snap angle	Define the cursor snap angle here (only possible when is enabled).

   Note: You can enter up to 200 points.

4. To finish defining the outline, click the first point again or press ESC.
5. Now place points for the line of travel using the polyline entry tools. Start at the bottom of the stair. Press ESC to finish.

   Tip: If the Polygonize elements check box is selected in the Input Options, you can also use existing elements for the line of travel (circles, ellipses, for example). To do this, click the element you want to use. If this option is not selected, existing elements are ignored.

   

   Points for line of travel: points 1 (bottom) through 4 (top)
   Starting angle: + 180°
   Angle of rotation (delta angle): - 180°
   (A) Bottom
   (B) Top
   (C) Outline

6. The following parameters are displayed:
   Starting angle
   defines the orientation of the first step based on the unit circle.
   Angle of rotation
   defines the delta angle between the front edge of the bottom step and the rear edge of the top step. Entering a positive value will generate a line of travel that runs counter-clockwise (see unit circle).
   Arc
   defines the fillet radius for the line of travel; entering 0 disables this option.
7. Click Height to set up the height of the stair.
8. Click Match to copy the component settings from an existing stair.
9. Right-click in the workspace or click OK on the context toolbar to confirm the current settings.
10. Define the geometry of the stair (rise, tread, etc..).
11. Click and define the individual stair components.
    Click OK to confirm the settings.
12. Click Close to finish designing the stair and acknowledge the prompt by clicking Yes.

    The stair is saved and this completes the design.

13. Place the stair’s label .

Example 1

Example 2