I’m working on trimming a set of stairs, putting in skirtboards over the top of the treads and risers. So far I’ve been using a sheet of OSB, cutting to get it close, then scribing to get it to fit, then using that as a pattern for the actual skirtboard. Is there a better (i.e. quicker) way to do this? (And no, the treads,etc., ain’t coming off. The thing is built too goofy for that.)
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I've done that job. I stole a technique from the guys who fabricate stone counter tops. They slice plywood -- door skins work fine -- into strips maybe 1 1/2" wide. They lay out the strips on top of the cabinets, cutting them to rough length with a utility knife. Then they use a hot-melt glue gun to tack the strips together, and they get a full-size template. To use this technique on stairs, I tacked a carrying board to the wall, and hot-melted my strips to the carrying board. The "strips" need odd shapes. For instance, the "strip" for the riser is triangular. One edge records the riser, and the long tail on the triangle goes out to glue to the carrying board. The template doesn't have to record every surface and edge. It just has to record key elements. For instance, my template only records the position of the nose of each tread, and in the shop I cut the bullnose to fit.