The Woodshop Shed

Deck railings

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


My customer asked if I could make a replacement top and bottom deck railing. A 45” long segment was destroyed when a not too competent tree trimmer felled a palm tree. It didn't land where he expected it to land. The ten PVC balusters survived but the thin walled artificial railings didn't. I'm not sure what the material was. I suspect something similar to artificial decking. The replacements are shown next to the damaged originals. Both replacements were box beam constructed from 4 pieces of alder. The ten holes for the 1-1/8” PVC balusters required a router template. I rough cut the holes undersized on the 3/8” thick tops with a saber saw. Prior to the box beam glue up I attached the template and used a 3/8” diameter flush trim bit on the router table to size the baluster holes. I ruled out using 8/4 alder and mortising in the baluster holes with a mortising machine because the balusters had rounded edges. The mortising machine would have made square mortises. By using a router template and a 3/8 inch flush trim bit, the holes had corners with the perfect radius. My replacements probably won't withstand a another tree falling on them but they're a bit stronger than the originals.

0 comment(s)