Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Feb 23, 2004 07:45pm | #1

   Click on the Advanced Search button, near the top of the left side frame, the one with all the thread titles in it. The first element in the search screen is a pull down menu. Pull it down and select the last item, "Using the boolean expression." In the text box enter

   copper AND (ballisters OR balusters OR railing OR spindles)

   and click on the Search button. If nothing happens after about twenty seconds, hit Search again.

2. 
   ljg | Feb 23, 2004 09:05pm | #2

   I went to my local ACE Hardware and I believe I just used Paint Thinner of something like that to remove the ink. I was no big deal...no wire brushing involved.

1. 
   suntoad | Feb 23, 2004 11:05pm | #3

   Copper railing pics att. below...

   This rail was built 2 years ago. I actually liked the copper bright, so I coated them with waterborne varathane. Not a hint of a patina yet. (The red writing comes off easy with MEK or Naptha and a steel wool pad).

   The spindles are plenty strong, set in 3/4" deep sockets in the rails with a dab of silicone (replacement is easy). I have 4 kids who generally thrash my house, but as yet, not a spindle has been damaged.

   BTW, I used 1/2" copper, but a stronger design would use 3/4".

1. 
   JeffBuck | Feb 24, 2004 01:20am | #4

   nice digs.

   JeffBuck Construction   Pittsburgh,PA

        Artistry in Carpentry                

2. 
   Sphere | Feb 24, 2004 01:29am | #5

   cool work..I did a deck in IPE last year..same sorta rail detail..the customer sized the space for his favorite beverage glass..we used Black Anodized alum. for every other baluster...View Image

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

1. 
   suntoad | Feb 24, 2004 09:15pm | #6

   Very nice. What is your rail cap? Looks very similar to mine. Mine is a complete mystery. I bought them from a builders bargains outfit being sold as "redwood" for a few dollars a foot. (they were seconds with a few blemishes in the profile). But I knew right away it wasn't redwood. I've extensively investigated it and I'm now 90% sure the cap is desert ironwood. It's luxerious stuff. Hard as a rock to cut, and is in fact one of the very few woods that has a specific gravity over 1.00 (It sinks!). If it is what I think, I basically stole the stuff. That cap will outlive the deck, and the house.

1. 
   Sphere | Feb 25, 2004 01:45am | #8

   Ipe, the whole deck is Ipe..rail cap was 5/4 x6 with a table top like edge..NOT CHEAP..4x4 posts were a slam too.  The hardest part of the whole rail was drilling the 13/16 holes for the stair rails at 34* or so. and we also drilled drain holes in the bottom rails so's water wouldn't pool in there..all screwed together with #7 SS trim screws..

   Ipe hardly floats also..and don't try to nail it with out a pilot.

   View Image

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

2. 
   jimmyk | Feb 24, 2004 10:24pm | #7

   That's very cool looking! I guess I stand corrected on my concerns of weakness and having to wire brush them.

   molten

3. 
   JohnSprung | Feb 25, 2004 10:47pm | #9

   > I actually liked the copper bright, so I coated them with waterborne varathane. Not a hint of a patina yet

   Any advice on surface prep and application?

   -- J.S.