Yes, flooring is what I do for a living. The 'linoleum metal edge' manufacturers went out of business many years ago. NY Metal mouldings was one of the leading distributors. Randall Manufacturing out of Newark NJ bought up most of the left over stock and I think some of the manufacturing capabilities, but I am not entirely sure that the later is true. However, I am very surprised that the product has disappeared altogether and left vinyl and linoleum end users without suitable edge products to use, other than those ugly applied-after binder bar things. I bet 1/8" metal moldings are available in Europe. The ceramic edge profiles I am talking about are not made of ceramic materials at all, but are 'large' versions of what we had commonly available in aluminum, steel and brass for linoleum and vinyl to finish door and stairnose edges. The reason I suggest them is that you could adapt these extrusions for use in a stepdown, such as you have. You would have to look at what's available and then design the product into your project. It can be as simple as cutting something off the profile to make it work...inseting the profile in your substrate...applying the profile to the 'riser' portion of your stepdown and building up that surface so the vinyl would meet almost flush to the metal. This can take some hard thinking, but it is not impossible to do. Since almost everything else being manufactured today seems to come from China, why do we not see suitable metal edge profiles coming from there? I don't attend the Surfaces flooring convention, so I don't know what is being offered as manufactured looking for distribution...there must be some somewhere. All I know is that I have not come across any suppliers recently and the only stuff I do see is my own personal stash for my special flooring needs. I heard rumours that there is a marketing place in San Francisco (or somewhere in California) called 'linoleumtown'...or something like that. It is a group of stores selling linoleum and other sheet and vinyl products and I bet there'd be a good chance of finding something there. Good luck.

flyleft --- Thanks for the info on the red birch. I remodeled the house in 2005, and now that it's completed, I never check out past decisions, so didn't know that red birch is less available. I will tell you that I still love my wood floors, still love the variation, grain, texture, etc. of the wood after living here for 2.5+ years. But, I'm the kind of person who can live happily with the same thing for decades and decades, if I like it. And, I'm going to live in this house until they carry me out feet first :) You correctly read my my mind and my thinking on the mahogany. Related colors, so a good blend. I prefer blends to matching. And, I liked the idea of keeping the original treatment of the stairs. All I did was have the painter refinish the handrail -- didn't change the color, just patched up some gouges, deep scratches, and put a protective finish on it. It now feels like new.... I also had the carpenter build floating mahogany shelves, stain them the same color as the hand rails, and mounted them on the fireplace front, to soften the fireplace. The fireplace runs from floor to top of semi-cathedral (aka "shed") ceiling, and takes up 1 whole wall of the LR. The 3 mahogany floating shelves make a huge difference in the fireplace appearnance, and continue to blend colors together. Thanks for the compliment! I don't think you'll regret keeping the wroght iron treatment for your stairs. As you said, it's all about tying everything together. Good luck as you tackle this!

I bet there's not a jig outside of a factory that can pull off what is being asked. You don't need a jig. I don't believe anyone would bother buying a jig for a one off job like this and I have had to angle in attachment points for table tops many times. A sacrificial piece of wood would work fine. This is just the basic physics of drilling holes and it is not that complicated. There is a reason that there is not splintering 2" deep into the wood, so you just make the surface of your stringer 2" deep into the wood. It really isn't hard and anyone who has ever built furniture will know very well the value of preventing tear out with sacrificial boards. I can put a sharp 5/8" Forstner bit in a drill press and cut one crisp 5/8" hole at 45 degrees Show me... Rip that thing down into some soft wood at a pace akin to pushing on a handheld drill and impress me. ETA: The value of jigs such as the Kreg pocket hole screws is not establishing the angle. It is creating the compression on the surface that prevents tear out. Take your Kreg jig and lift it off the surface with a spacer and watch your wood splinter the same way.

" What building code applies to the stairs? Be sure to check the local amendments. I doubt what is drawn meets any building code but all that is probably required is to move the risers a half tread into the room." The author claims she has a licensed architect. Without scaling the drawing, the winders appear to have the minimum 6" and giver there is a 45 degree angle meet the 10" requirement too! I have confidence the architect is cognizant of the building code provisions! If winders are built according to code, the are safe. Period! I live in an old bungalow winders that do not conform to doday's code. It's an attic studio where I used have my office. I am careful going up and down and make use of the handrail! Here's the thing about winders. They only have one purpose - saving space! If the owner doesn't want the winders the stair tower can be extended 10" into the yard and there can be a square landing. It should incur minimum additional costs as only about 6 square feet are being added! No bigs!