Michael Korovkin Apr 26, 2011:

as a matter of fact, what the phrase might also suggest is that you can use the pins laterally without making any slits in the stringers at all.

Michael Korovkin Apr 26, 2011:

ok, guys, look: You stick each stepboard ito the slits in the stringers. It is the stringers that hold all the weight. All you have to do is to make sure that the stepboard doesn't come out of the slits in the stringers. So you fix it in the slits either with a couple of wooden pins (шипы) or by tacking them to the stringer with a couple of nails. Those nails don't carry any weight here, just hold the stepboard in the slit in the stringer against the horisontal pull. So, the tacking can indeed be very light rather than heavy. Hate to throw my weight around (hopefully not down the stairs!) but I restored three houses in my life, and made at least five staircases like that; so believe me, I know what I'm talking about – first-hand.