In the past I joined sections of straight stair rail to fittings in the same manner described by Sebastian Eggert in his article Installing Manufactured Stair Parts. I used the rail bolt that came with the fitting, with a hex nut instead of the furnished star nut. But frequently during installation of the assembled rail sections, the glue line would break from the shock of coaxing the rail onto the balusters with a rubber mallet, or from the twisting action of aligning the rail with the newel posts. Then I’d have to reglue and contour the joint all over again.
I remedied this situation by adding a 3/8-in. dowel to the joint, as shown in the drawing. I use a wafer, cut from a section of rail, to mark the location of both the hole for the rail bolt and the dowel hole. To make sure I don’t compound any error in the placement of the holes, I mark an “FS” on one side of the wafer to indicate the “fitting side,” and I take care to orient it correctly.
In addition to strengthening the joint to withstand the strain of installation, the dowel resists the torquing action of tightening the nut during assembly, helping to maintain proper alignment of the parts. Since I started using this method, I haven’t had to rework a single joint.
D. B. Lovingood, Suffolk, VA
