Replies

1. 
   Don_Papenburg | Nov 16, 2001 04:03am | #1

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   I saw a hand rail in a church in Des Moines that was carved not bent on a nice spiral stair. Steam the wood . Make your own bending rail.

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   phil_eves | Nov 16, 2001 05:28am | #2

   *Thin laminated wood (just about any species) Use the stairs as a jig if you can.

1. 
   GACC_DAllas | Nov 16, 2001 06:50am | #3

   *What do you consider "cost effective"?Laminating is about the cheapest way....but the cost of all those clamps!Ed.

1. 
   Jason_DD_ | Nov 16, 2001 08:43pm | #4

   *Not sure what the code says, but what about rope? Use thick(1"+diameter) rope for the handrail, and then a net or closer spaced (Sort of nautical/treehouse in feel. Could be rustic or refined depending on the type of line you use.btw Ed., what ever happened to the tree house in the "Lifting Solutions" thread?

1. 
   Terry_Smiley | Nov 17, 2001 01:09am | #5

   *BadGo to a wrought iron shop. Buy a piece of handrail that you like (I used 114/1). Rent or borrow a cutting torch with a rosebud tip. Cover your stairs with 1/2" plywood and sheetmetal to protect it from burning. Now your going to have to be careful, but you'd be amazed what heat will do. Heat your stock evenly and bend it on a piece of steel plate using C clamps. It doesn't have to be red hot to soften, you'll be surprised. I've done this and had a ball, and the best part is, it's mechanically easy and the results were the talk of the job site.Oh, and it was cheap.Look here for materials here http://www.indital.com/handrail.htmlHave fun Terry

2. 
   GACC_DAllas | Nov 17, 2001 04:01am | #6

   *Hey Jason,Thanks for asking.We started the tree house, built on scaffolds as you suggested. Thanks.It worked great.However, after the grunt work was done, the builder said he'd bring in his own employees to do all the fun stuff. We built the deck, post, roof and suspended the thing and someone else gets the rope rails, trap doors and such.Oh well.Our part was billed out at about $3500. I suspect there was a lot left in the budget for the fun stuff. But we didn't get it.You win some and lose some when you work by the hour.So it goes.They didn't do the second tree house and rope bridge.At least not yet.There is still a HUGE remodel to do on the main house that stands on the property. We'll get a bunch of that, so I'm not complaining.Regards,Ed.

3. 
   ponytail | Nov 19, 2001 04:07am | #7

   *use steel...look on the web you can find all types of castings but for the hand rail... 1 1/4 tube is about right i use 083 or 095 wall ERW mild steel you don't need DOM... lot of ways to bend it... you can get a large hand conduit bender.... you can pack the tube with sand to keep it from collapasing ... best bet to find someone with a real tubing bender (anyone who builds racecars has one) bending pipe & tubing are not the same... good luck we build all our own steel supports.. balconies ..rails ect...

4. 
   Badhabits | Nov 21, 2001 06:32pm | #8

   *Hey Ed,I've been buying up clamps for the past year! I've caught a couple stores going out of business, and the local auto swap meet has been good. Thanks,Bill

5. 
   Badhabits | Nov 21, 2001 06:39pm | #9

   *Hey Pony, er... Mr. Tail,This looks like a great possibility. But can you bend the square tube and retain a flat plane? I've seen this done where the tubing rolled over as it was bent and the curve ended up with the corner of the tubing up on top, they'd cut v notches in the balusters to fit down on the tubing. Might've been ok except that it wasn't consistent. I can get a real tubing bender...Thanks,Bill

6. 
   Badhabits | Nov 21, 2001 06:55pm | #10

   *Jason,That's really original! But it's a curved stair. It's hard enough to push a rope, I'm not sure about suspending it in a curve. Could be attached to wood but then I'm bending wood again. Ahh! could hang it from the ceiling! I do know of a guy who used very fine cables, almost like piano wire, from stair to ceiling. Looked like a huge harp. That's cool...Terry,Thanks for the link! So, you're heating/bending over a short, say 3ft piece of flat iron? The rail cools as you go and you move the piece of flat iron down to the next area? Is this correct? This, I'm going to try. Bill

7. 
   Jason_DD_ | Nov 21, 2001 11:55pm | #11

   *Mr. Habits:Looks like you are leaning towards the iron, but I will clarify my idea for the rope. You really can't beat designing with words for miscommunication. When will tauton let us sketch with our posts?Anyway, set newel (sp?) posts at top and bottom of stairs. Set straight (standard stock, nothing fancy required) ballusters in every tread, or at least evenly spaced. Ballusters need pretty secure anchor to treads, as they will cantilever vertically out. Figure out anchor system for posts and balusters, could be holes in wood, could be hardware, could be notches. Secure rope at one post, run through ballusters. Pull to desired tautness (depends on rope, and how it will age), and secure at other post. The more ballusters you have, the more the rope will approximate your curve. Fill in below as desired/required. The only thing that curves is the rope, which wants to naturally. All the wood and iron stays straight.Again, use 1" or 1.5" dia for the handrail, fill in with thinner line or web below. Now that I think about it, you could reuse the lead-line portion of a purse seine. Make sure to wash in fresh water first, but I digress.Boat supply stores/catalogs will have appropriate hardware. A mountain/rock climbing shop, or rigger's supply shop will also. Depends on look, feel, budget... As this is a life safety item, make sure the line is well secured. Post some pics here, or in the gallery.

2. 
   Badhabits | Nov 21, 2001 11:55pm | #12

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   I'm about to finish my freestanding curved staircase and I'm looking for interesting alternatives to traditional bending rail. Today I was quoted 50bucks a foot for middle of the road birch/mahog bending rail, of course without shipping etc... I thought it was much cheaper than that. Anyway, have any of you any suggestions on other methods, materials, that can be built on site effectively? I've even thought of using electrical conduit for balusters. I'd love to hear any experiences or thoughts.
   Thanks,
   Bill Smith