By Hand & Eye Discovery

[Cameron Wood]

Not really about proportions, but here's a video my BIL made with me laying out handrail balusters with dividers. I use them all the time. These are just some cheap Generals that get left out all the time. The better ones stay in safer storage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIn24ClUilY

Nice.

I usually assemble the railing panels with the rails a little long and the balusters spaced regular, then hold the panel up to the posts for the largest even space on each side. This allows for posts that are not plumb. It's similar to tile layout where end cuts are always the same and more than 1/2 tile in width.

[Jim Koepke]

Not really about proportions, but here's a video my BIL made with me laying out handrail balusters with dividers. I use them all the time. These are just some cheap Generals that get left out all the time. The better ones stay in safer storage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIn24ClUilY

Thanks for posting this Tom, it will be useful for a railing project on which I'm working.

jtk

[Tom M King]

When marking for balusters where you're not going to be using the center marks, I still lay them out the same way, but add the step of going back with a compass and putting a pencil mark for one side of the baluster. The center mark hole makes it obvious which side of the mark the baluster goes on. Pictures are some I did on the house I built in 1991 where the handrails are mortised into the posts.