There’s been plenty of talk about stairs here as of late. I’d be obliged to here of your favorites for fastening stair handrails. Many people I know favor the key-lock system. I’ve always tried to sink some part of the post down into the floor. This, of course, isn’t always feasible.
So let’s hear ’em. Naturally, there are many variables like size and location to consider.
One of my favorites that I’m working to perfect is halving a post onto the end of a short knee wall, you know, the kind that runs the same angle as the skirt. I’ve attached a pic. I’d like to hear of the best methods for making clean cuts in the post for this fastening system.
Sorry, I tried like heck to shrink this, but every time it got too fuzzy to see.
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Here's a pic of the cut post I was referring to.
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Hook - " ...Many people I know favor the key-lock system."
Not a fan of those key-locks at all. While we have a box down in the shop with a bunch of them in it I know speaking for myself I have never ever used them. I don't trust em and I can think of a couple of situations where they would make plumbing the posts difficult.
"I've always tried to sink some part of the post down into the floor. This, of course, isn't always feasible." We don't sweat over that too much anymore at all. We have a technique we use where we put a long bolt into the bottom of our posts cut off or trim the head of the bolt down a little and then drop that in a epoxy filled hole (we try to thicken up the epoxy with glass beads or silica whenever possible). Obviously when performing that kind of installation inside we look for a joist or a beam to drill our hole in which usually isn't too much trouble to find when your talking about a stair since their is usually a beam for the stair in the area.
I described this technique in a post to the Railing post to porch attach method? topic a while back and while it was answering a specific question regarding the condition e2canoe was facing with his project I think you can read and look at that post and with a little imagination figure out other applications for the technique.
" One of my favorites that I'm working to perfect is halving a post onto the end of a short knee wall, you know, the kind that runs the same angle as the skirt. " Well that fattened up stringer you're calling a knee wall we call a parapet or parapet stringer or a curb. Kneewalls in our nomenclature are higher. I would say at least knee high.
"I've attached a pic. I'd like to hear of the best methods for making clean cuts in the post for this fastening system." Sharp saws and good sharp chisels to clean out the corners in pocket type cut.
"Sorry, I tried like heck to shrink this, but every time it got too fuzzy to see." I'm not sure what you're talkin' about there. I found the graphics so small I could barely see them. Just for you future reference GIF is a much better format to use than a BMP for posting graphics and line drawings and JPG is best for photos.
Was that any help?
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Edited 3/7/2005 11:54 pm ET by Jerrald Hayes
I don't do those half walls, preferring to use open stringers. I still need to notch the post in many situations. The best way is to have the wall or riser plumb, then it's a straight cut. In the case that the wall is not plumb, you hold the post plumb and scribe to fit. The easiest way to cut it is, to mark the posts at the end of the day and take them back to the bandsaw in the shop. If you have to cut the notch on the job, you can mark the lines with a utility knife. Set your circular saw to cut a little more than half way and cut up to the angle from both sides. If the wall is twisted, you have to bevel the blade to compensate. The only way to do the opposite side is to add a shim under the saw base. You can cut the angle by using the depth control on your slider, use a backer block for tear out. If you don't have a slider, you can set the depth and bevel on a circular saw, keep it a hair short. To finish off the area left on the long cuts, I make a series of side by side kerfs with the slider or circular saw set to depth. Knock out the pieces and clean up with a chisel. In the old days before there were power miter boxes and electricity on job sites we used hand saws for everything. You don't see sharp handsaws around jobs much anymore, but they are hard to beat if you don't mind applying a little elbow grease. With handsaws, there isn't any playing around with settings, just two intersecting cuts.
When it comes to attaching the post, I use plenty of glue and lags or carriage bolts covered with a large plug. I use backer blocks when attaching to a riser. I only do stairs that I build the stringers for, these days. This gives me the opportunity to make sure all key points are secure. I don't work on saw tooth 2x12's, I think a stair run should have more backbone than what's left after cutting out a 2x. On rail fittings, I use rail bolts or dowels, biscuits and heavy #14 or better screws, counter sunk and plugged. Good screws are getting harder to find so you need to get your pilot holes correct to avoid trouble. I use a special driver for rail bolts.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match