Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 2 - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 186

Drawing the Stairs
You could mirror the 4 ″ (102 mm) rectangle now to create the reciprocal post, but
we'll wait until the stair handrails are complete and then mirror both objects at
once. The first stair handrail is 3 ″ (76 mm) wide and centered on the 4 ″ (102 mm)
post, so you'll use a temporary tracking point to locate the first point of the line.
1. Make sure 05A-FPLAY1.dwg is open.
2. Start the LINE command and click the Temporary Track Point button
in the Object Snap toolbar, or enter TT ↵ at the command line.
3. Using the running Endpoint osnap, click on the lower-right corner of
the small post to locate the temporary tracking point.
4. With the temporary tracking point located, move the cursor directly
upward and enter .5 ↵ ( 13 ↵ ) to place the start point ½ ″ (13 mm)
above the corner.
5. To complete the handrail, do the following:
a. Move the cursor directly to the right and enter 3'5.5 ↵ ( 1054 ↵ ).
b. Move the cursor directly upward and enter 3 ↵ ( 72 ↵ ).
c. Move the cursor directly to the left and enter 3'5.5 ↵ ( 1054 ↵ ).
Instead of entering the exact distance of the final line, you
could also use the Perpendicular object snap to complete the
handrail.
Your first handrail should look like Figure 5.23.
FiGuRE 5.23 The first handrail