Lots of details in such a small amount of space wood. Nice job I learned a bit by watching thanks... I'm new at all this I spend hours and hours on here watching good workmanship. I actually I'm now to the point I spend more time in shop then doing research but at first it was the other way around.
There's always room to learn more. I'm still picking things up after decades of this work. Knowledge is important, but so is skill and technique with your hands, so practice and practice some more!
Hey John nice work , having some of those old hollow and rounds planes around pays off . The end results look great , im sure the home owner was happy .
Im restoring an 1882 Victorian and have the same exact problem -access to clear Cedar! In the Midwest (Chicagoland) it’s nearly impossible to find clear Cedar at a reasonable price. In this instance, it looks like your building short lengths of a one-off design. For some of the bigger projects, it just made more sense for me to buy blades for my Moulder, but it’s hard to justify buying moulder blades for a short length of a one-off design. Great work.
That's the thing--if you are rebuilding an entire porch and it is of a substantial size, you might be better off contracting with a millwork shop who will custom build railings for the whole porch using custom moulding knives. In fact, they may already have the correct knives if you are using a common profile for the area. If you have something like my case here, where I just needed a smaller amount of railing, it makes more sense to make a small batch using whatever method you have. Either way, it is difficult to find clear lumber in thicker form. I literally bought out the remaining 2x cedar the lumberyard had left and it was covered in thick dust because nobody uses it anymore. You can try to find a local sawmill for some species of wood, but it's likely to be poplar or oak--you won't find cedar--and it won't be kiln dried. The toughest part of woodworking these days is finding the wood.
this is really great - thanks for posting it. Do you have anything on where you sourced and/or crafted the balusters? I wondered if you made them yourself or bought them.
Balusters can go one of two ways. If you are fortunate, the baluster profile is a standard one and you can source replacements from a specialty millwork company. Your local lumberyard may have a catalog or you can look online. However, these millwork companies and the number of available profiles are dwindling. The other option is to turn them yourself on a lathe. This is appropriate when you only have a handful to replace and it's important to retain the original historical profile. If you have most of a railing or a whole porch to do, it's going to be cheaper to just source all new balusters in whatever profile is available. If you don't have the lathe skills, it's pretty likely that there is at least one local woodworker in your area--possibly a hobbyist-- who would take on the job. You may find a local guild, or a local shared woodshop, or you could just ask at the desk of your local lumberyard if they know of any turners. Another place to check would be a local boutique lumber dealer who sells rough cut, air dried lumber cut from local logs. Those dealers will know the turners who come in to buy rough cut lumber blanks.
Lots of details in such a small amount of space wood. Nice job I learned a bit by watching thanks... I'm new at all this I spend hours and hours on here watching good workmanship. I actually I'm now to the point I spend more time in shop then doing research but at first it was the other way around.
There's always room to learn more. I'm still picking things up after decades of this work. Knowledge is important, but so is skill and technique with your hands, so practice and practice some more!
Hey John nice work , having some of those old hollow and rounds planes around pays off . The end results look great , im sure the home owner was happy .
There are tools I own which get very little use, but when you need 'em there is no alternative!
The cut at the end of the chamfer if correctly done is a “Lambs tongue”….great job
That's right. Not all examples were done that way, however. I think it's more common in 18th century work than in 19th century, at least in my area.
I need this man! I am rehabbing my old historic Victorian. I would love to do the wood working myself, but …
Im restoring an 1882 Victorian and have the same exact problem -access to clear Cedar! In the Midwest (Chicagoland) it’s nearly impossible to find clear Cedar at a reasonable price. In this instance, it looks like your building short lengths of a one-off design. For some of the bigger projects, it just made more sense for me to buy blades for my Moulder, but it’s hard to justify buying moulder blades for a short length of a one-off design. Great work.
That's the thing--if you are rebuilding an entire porch and it is of a substantial size, you might be better off contracting with a millwork shop who will custom build railings for the whole porch using custom moulding knives. In fact, they may already have the correct knives if you are using a common profile for the area. If you have something like my case here, where I just needed a smaller amount of railing, it makes more sense to make a small batch using whatever method you have. Either way, it is difficult to find clear lumber in thicker form. I literally bought out the remaining 2x cedar the lumberyard had left and it was covered in thick dust because nobody uses it anymore. You can try to find a local sawmill for some species of wood, but it's likely to be poplar or oak--you won't find cedar--and it won't be kiln dried. The toughest part of woodworking these days is finding the wood.
I think you did right by making them symmetrical, looks good.
this is really great - thanks for posting it. Do you have anything on where you sourced and/or crafted the balusters? I wondered if you made them yourself or bought them.
Balusters can go one of two ways. If you are fortunate, the baluster profile is a standard one and you can source replacements from a specialty millwork company. Your local lumberyard may have a catalog or you can look online. However, these millwork companies and the number of available profiles are dwindling. The other option is to turn them yourself on a lathe. This is appropriate when you only have a handful to replace and it's important to retain the original historical profile. If you have most of a railing or a whole porch to do, it's going to be cheaper to just source all new balusters in whatever profile is available. If you don't have the lathe skills, it's pretty likely that there is at least one local woodworker in your area--possibly a hobbyist-- who would take on the job. You may find a local guild, or a local shared woodshop, or you could just ask at the desk of your local lumberyard if they know of any turners. Another place to check would be a local boutique lumber dealer who sells rough cut, air dried lumber cut from local logs. Those dealers will know the turners who come in to buy rough cut lumber blanks.