Comment by ipython

I enjoyed the stair story here quite a bit - I find that I always have a newfound appreciation for the “real” jobs when I find a fine craftsman at work.

We had a curved staircase fabricated for our house and it was absolutely fascinating to watch the planning and execution go into this task. The original measurements were plugged into a cad drawing where we could adjust the number of treads and the position of the top and bottom steps based on our preference. Then they fabricated the entire assembly offsite and brought it in via crane in one piece. Even building the handrail was fascinating as there was a jig built in place to bend the wood to the curve required.

The physical constraints and fractal complexity is fascinating for someone like me who is used to deterministic machines moving bits on a daily basis.