Anybody ever install any of these? The newells and handrails will be oak.
When I bid the job I bid for oak balusters as well. Now I've been told I'll
have to cut each baluster to length. 200+ balusters sounds like I need to
get my hands on a chop saw or should I just put a metal cutting blade on the
old Makita mitre saw? Either way it sounds like the price is going up. Any
advice/suggestions appreciated.
Kevin
On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 09:02:10 -0400, "Kevin L. Bowling"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> They're a few dollars cheaper than wood. I don't think they're gonna save
>that much when I get through with the labor though. Any thoughts on this?
First of all, they're not wrought iron, they're steel.
Secondly, the things are a damn nuisance for maintenance. Unless
they're top grade quality when installed, the paint only lasts a
couple of years before rusting through. Then you have one hell of a
job to keep them looking good, as they're such an awkward shape to
strip to bare metal for repainting.
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
Well, I can borrow a chop saw. Don't plan on doing much rebar or steel stud
cutting any time soon so no need to buy one. I do like that $99.00 price tag
though. I wonder if these wrought iron balusters are going to be a trend.
They seem to be catching on around here.
They're a few dollars cheaper than wood. I don't think they're gonna save
that much when I get through with the labor though. Any thoughts on this?
Kevin
"Kevin L. Bowling" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anybody ever install any of these? The newells and handrails will be oak.
> When I bid the job I bid for oak balusters as well. Now I've been told
I'll
> have to cut each baluster to length. 200+ balusters sounds like I need to
> get my hands on a chop saw or should I just put a metal cutting blade on
the
> old Makita mitre saw? Either way it sounds like the price is going up. Any
> advice/suggestions appreciated.
>
> Kevin
>
>
There is a cheap chop saw which uses an angle grinder in a saw frame. They
seem to work well from what I have heard. Available with 4.5" or 9" angle
grinder.
John
"Kevin L. Bowling" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Anybody ever install any of these? The newells and handrails will be
> oak.
> When I bid the job I bid for oak balusters as well. Now I've been told
> I'll have to cut each baluster to length. 200+ balusters sounds like I
> need to get my hands on a chop saw or should I just put a metal
> cutting blade on the old Makita mitre saw? Either way it sounds like
> the price is going up. Any advice/suggestions appreciated.
>
> Kevin
>
>
Kevin,
In the past year I've done this exact job. I bought the heavy duty 14"
chop saw from Harbor Freight (~100 on sale). I cut each of the 200 forged
steel pickets twice (once on each end) and I'm still on the first blade.
This saw works well and is solid. Still, wear hearing and eye protection
and long pants since the sparks will fly. Oh, forget about the mitre saw,
it will just melt with all of the hot molten sparks. One more tip - I used
the side of the abrasive blade to smooth out the cut ends of the pickets.
This didn't seem to wear the blade too much so I wasn't worried that it
would cause it to fail in the center of the blade, resulting in flying
fragments.
-Matt
On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 07:09:24 -0400, "Kevin L. Bowling"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>sounds like I need to
>get my hands on a chop saw or should I just put a metal cutting blade on the
>old Makita mitre saw?
Metal cutting bandsaw, or else hire a disk cutter with 12" disks.
I'd go with the bandsaw. They're cheap, and they're useful afterwards.
I've had some bad experiences with abrasive disk cutters, unless you
have a large diameter disk.
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods