Hi all,
I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two pieces of
3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a half lap
joint, length of 2" which would give me an overall length of 112".
I plan on using my table saw and stacked dado in combination with a sled and
sliding board for the long piece, I don't have a RAS.
The short piece will work in the sled too.
I'm striving to get the least visible glue line that I can.
Is this the right approach?
I'm looking for any other recommendations regarding joint type and
technique.
Thanks for your time,
David.
On Feb 10, 8:14 am, "David" <cosmosatnointerbaunspamdotcom> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two pieces of
> 3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
>
> One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a half lap
> joint
Handrails don't need as much strength as your wood, especially if you
can locate the support near the joint. I joined a softwood handrail
by simple 45deg cuts, clamping the pieces together then routing
a socket underneath for a spline/dutchman/floating tenon. The tenon
is invisible from above, and offers enough glue area (the endgrain of
the
rail segments, also glued, is not an effective glue surface). The
rail did fine
for its first 20 years (but I moved on).
If I had all the tooling, a fingerjoint would be the ideal way to do
it.
I've seen simple doweling at the joint used, as well.
The scarf joint suggestion, while esthetic and strong, seems like
overkill.
"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> You need to scarf the two pieces.
>
> Definitely not a table saw task.
>
> Can be done quite nicely with a router and a suitable jig.
>
> Lew
Thanks for the suggestions,
Lew, if I use a scarf joint would a SCMS be a good choice?
What angle would suit a 3" wide x 2" thick piece of stock?
David.
"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> David wrote:
>
> >
> > Thanks for the suggestions,
> >
> > Lew, if I use a scarf joint would a SCMS be a good choice?
> >
> > What angle would suit a 3" wide x 2" thick piece of stock?
>
> A decent scarf is usually at least 8:1.
>
> Thus, a 2" thick piece would have a scarf joint of 16" length.
>
> Go to the library, get Fred Bingham's boat "Practical Yacht Joinery".
>
> Does a great job describing how to cut a scarf but also how to build the
> jigs.
>
> A SCMS would be of no value for this job.
>
> Lew
>
Lew, thanks for the information, I'll go and look it up.
I really appreciate the expertise that is found on this newsgroup.
Thanks to dozens of contributors I've read over the years, I've gleaned
enough motivation, confidence and knowledge to tackle projects that I
wouldn't
have otherwise.
David.
What you're describing is called a "hanger bolt" .. you can see them
at http://www.hangerbolt.com/fasteners.htm .. but they are generally
available at any good hardware store, as well as the BORG
On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:59:45 -0600, [email protected] (DT)
wrote:
>>I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two pieces of
>>3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
>>
>>One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a half lap
>>joint, length of 2" which would give me an overall length of 112".
>
>
>I'm doing the same thing with two 7 foot sections of oak. There is a handrail
>bolt kit made just for this purpose. It is available at Home Depot where they
>sell their stairway parts. It consists of a 6" long bolt with machine threads
>on one end, and a lag bolt on the other. It comes with nuts, a half-round
>spacer and a filler plug.
>
>You slice off a thin piece of the handrail to use as a template (most
>handrails are complex in cross section) , and drill a pilot hole through it.
>Then holding the template on the ends of each of the two handrail pieces, drill
>pilot holes in each rail. Drill as required and install the lag screw into the
>first piece.
>
>Drill a flat bottomed, 1" hole on the underside of the second rail (about 2"
>back) and enlarge the pilot to a clearance hole for the bolt in the end. Place
>the half-round spacer in the 1" hole, it fits the 1" diameter and has a flat
>for the nut to bear against. Slide the two rails together using glue, put the
>nut on the threads and tighten using a special thin wrench (sold separately).
>Fill the 1" hole with the plug. It comes with an oak plug, you will have to
>make a walnut one if you want it filled and matched, but it doesn't show
>anyway. Done, very quick.
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I would use a butt joint. You could put a 45* joint on it if you
wanted to mess with it. Get the strength by routing a pocket into
the bottom of the rails to install a steel reinforcement/alignment
block.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
A live Singing Valentine quartet,
a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
[email protected] (local)
http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
"David" <cosmosatnointerbaunspamdotcom> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two
> pieces of 3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
>
> One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a
> half lap joint, length of 2" which would give me an overall
> length of 112".
>
> I plan on using my table saw and stacked dado in combination
> with a sled and sliding board for the long piece, I don't have a
> RAS.
>
> The short piece will work in the sled too.
>
> I'm striving to get the least visible glue line that I can.
>
> Is this the right approach?
>
> I'm looking for any other recommendations regarding joint type
> and technique.
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> David.
>
>
>
>I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two pieces of
>3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
>
>One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a half lap
>joint, length of 2" which would give me an overall length of 112".
I'm doing the same thing with two 7 foot sections of oak. There is a handrail
bolt kit made just for this purpose. It is available at Home Depot where they
sell their stairway parts. It consists of a 6" long bolt with machine threads
on one end, and a lag bolt on the other. It comes with nuts, a half-round
spacer and a filler plug.
You slice off a thin piece of the handrail to use as a template (most
handrails are complex in cross section) , and drill a pilot hole through it.
Then holding the template on the ends of each of the two handrail pieces, drill
pilot holes in each rail. Drill as required and install the lag screw into the
first piece.
Drill a flat bottomed, 1" hole on the underside of the second rail (about 2"
back) and enlarge the pilot to a clearance hole for the bolt in the end. Place
the half-round spacer in the 1" hole, it fits the 1" diameter and has a flat
for the nut to bear against. Slide the two rails together using glue, put the
nut on the threads and tighten using a special thin wrench (sold separately).
Fill the 1" hole with the plug. It comes with an oak plug, you will have to
make a walnut one if you want it filled and matched, but it doesn't show
anyway. Done, very quick.
--
Dennis
David wrote:
>
> Thanks for the suggestions,
>
> Lew, if I use a scarf joint would a SCMS be a good choice?
>
> What angle would suit a 3" wide x 2" thick piece of stock?
A decent scarf is usually at least 8:1.
Thus, a 2" thick piece would have a scarf joint of 16" length.
Go to the library, get Fred Bingham's boat "Practical Yacht Joinery".
Does a great job describing how to cut a scarf but also how to build the
jigs.
A SCMS would be of no value for this job.
Lew
Lew Hodgett <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> David wrote:
>
> >
> > Thanks for the suggestions,
> >
> > Lew, if I use a scarf joint would a SCMS be a good choice?
> >
> > What angle would suit a 3" wide x 2" thick piece of stock?
>
> A decent scarf is usually at least 8:1.
>
> Thus, a 2" thick piece would have a scarf joint of 16" length.
>
> Go to the library, get Fred Bingham's boat "Practical Yacht Joinery".
>
> Does a great job describing how to cut a scarf but also how to build
> the jigs.
Note that you could also rough-cut the angle using a bandsaw,
handsaw, or whatever, and then use a handplane to develop the
final surface by stacking the two parts, and planing across both
of them so they get the same angle.
John
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
>
>What you're describing is called a "hanger bolt" .. you can see them
>at http://www.hangerbolt.com/fasteners.htm .. but they are generally
>available at any good hardware store, as well as the BORG
>
It's based on a hanger bolt, but with all the extra and necessary parts to
make the connection through a blind hole in the bottom of the rail. Sold as a
"handrail bolt kit"
--
Dennis
What you're describing is called a "hanger bolt" commonly used in
staircase work to do what the OP wanted to do.
You can see one at http://www.hangerbolt.com/fasteners.htm
On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:59:45 -0600, [email protected] (DT)
wrote:
>>I'm building some handrails for a staircase and need to join two pieces of
>>3" wide x 2" thick walnut.
>>
>>One length is 90" the other 24". My initial thought is to use a half lap
>>joint, length of 2" which would give me an overall length of 112".
>
>
>I'm doing the same thing with two 7 foot sections of oak. There is a handrail
>bolt kit made just for this purpose. It is available at Home Depot where they
>sell their stairway parts. It consists of a 6" long bolt with machine threads
>on one end, and a lag bolt on the other. It comes with nuts, a half-round
>spacer and a filler plug.
>
>You slice off a thin piece of the handrail to use as a template (most
>handrails are complex in cross section) , and drill a pilot hole through it.
>Then holding the template on the ends of each of the two handrail pieces, drill
>pilot holes in each rail. Drill as required and install the lag screw into the
>first piece.
>
>Drill a flat bottomed, 1" hole on the underside of the second rail (about 2"
>back) and enlarge the pilot to a clearance hole for the bolt in the end. Place
>the half-round spacer in the 1" hole, it fits the 1" diameter and has a flat
>for the nut to bear against. Slide the two rails together using glue, put the
>nut on the threads and tighten using a special thin wrench (sold separately).
>Fill the 1" hole with the plug. It comes with an oak plug, you will have to
>make a walnut one if you want it filled and matched, but it doesn't show
>anyway. Done, very quick.
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