Bill Erskine
06-12-2005, 4:34 PM
Our house has a wrap-around porch. In several locations the wood railing (handrail and toe-rail) are rotting where they attach to a post. The handrail has a unique profile, which I couldn't find at any of the local outlets and the custom molding shop I contacted was way too pricey.
So, decided to do this myself. I cut out a section of the rail near some rot and then cut some thin slices to find router bits that would cut the profile. I've found router bits that are darn close to matching the profile of the rails. Most rails will be less than 5 feet long, but two are 10 feet long. The existing handrail is 2.75" inch high, by 3.5" wide overall. It was made of four 1"(ish) poplar boards glued together. I'm planning on doing the same, but want to make sure of the steps and their order before proceeding. So, I plan to...
1. Edge-joint four 3" wide poplar boards (s4s) to get a flat reference edge.
2. Plane faces so total width = final width.
3. Glue (Titebond 3 OK?) the faces together to form the 3.5" width. Thought I would lay the boards flat on my workbench (to keep it flat) and align the jointed edge to keep it straight. Any suggestions on keeping the boards from slip-sliding when the glue is wet. (Thought I'd brad-nailing the boards for glue up in an area where I won't be routing the profile. But don't want to hit a nail when later trimming to length. Also thought about the small brad driven part way in and then snipped off near the surface to hold the next board in place when clamped.)
4. Clean-up squeeze-out (scraper, belt-sander) and re joint the reference edge.
5. Plane opposite face to final height.
6. Use dado-blade to cut dado for spindles.
7. Set up the router table for routing the profiles (top profiles first since that is a horizontal bit), then side profiles (vertical bit). The router bits will be mostly buried in the fence.
8. Sand, prime and cut to size, before final installation.
Comments?
Thanks in Advance.
So, decided to do this myself. I cut out a section of the rail near some rot and then cut some thin slices to find router bits that would cut the profile. I've found router bits that are darn close to matching the profile of the rails. Most rails will be less than 5 feet long, but two are 10 feet long. The existing handrail is 2.75" inch high, by 3.5" wide overall. It was made of four 1"(ish) poplar boards glued together. I'm planning on doing the same, but want to make sure of the steps and their order before proceeding. So, I plan to...
1. Edge-joint four 3" wide poplar boards (s4s) to get a flat reference edge.
2. Plane faces so total width = final width.
3. Glue (Titebond 3 OK?) the faces together to form the 3.5" width. Thought I would lay the boards flat on my workbench (to keep it flat) and align the jointed edge to keep it straight. Any suggestions on keeping the boards from slip-sliding when the glue is wet. (Thought I'd brad-nailing the boards for glue up in an area where I won't be routing the profile. But don't want to hit a nail when later trimming to length. Also thought about the small brad driven part way in and then snipped off near the surface to hold the next board in place when clamped.)
4. Clean-up squeeze-out (scraper, belt-sander) and re joint the reference edge.
5. Plane opposite face to final height.
6. Use dado-blade to cut dado for spindles.
7. Set up the router table for routing the profiles (top profiles first since that is a horizontal bit), then side profiles (vertical bit). The router bits will be mostly buried in the fence.
8. Sand, prime and cut to size, before final installation.
Comments?
Thanks in Advance.