how to attach end to oak stair rail?

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I installed an oak stair railing some years ago, but I never got around to attaching the curved ends. So it currently just has these square ends that are ugly and dangerous.

What is the right way to attach the end pieces to stair rail?

I know you can buy double-ended wood screws, but is this common method? Seems like it would be hard to get them to perfectly line up. I guess you drill one hole, put a cut-off nail in the hole and use the nail point to mark the other piece.

I've considered dowels, and barrel fasteners as well. Barrel fasteners would require holes in the side in a discrete location.

Ideas?

[Chuck Wintle]

What if you tried to attach it with biscuits? The other thing i can think of is with dowels. What about a jig that will fit on the end of the oak to align the dowels?

[Lynn Kasdorf]

What if you tried to attach it with biscuits? The other thing i can think of is with dowels. What about a jig that will fit on the end of the oak to align the dowels?

I've thought about biscuits, but I think it would be tricky to get the slots aligned perfectly since the end pieces are curved.

I think some method that would allow small adjustment woudl be best- like a barrel fastener. I'll want to get the countours of the pieces perfectly lined up

[Steve Evans]

What if you tried to attach it with biscuits? The other thing i can think of is with dowels. What about a jig that will fit on the end of the oak to align the dowels?

Lynn

In a previous career I installed a couple of railings. A couple of ways to do it.

1) A fasterner that has wood screw on one end and machine screw on the other end. Drive the wood screw end into the railing. Drill an oversized hole in to the end of the attachment piece. Drill a large hole into the bottom of the attachment piece (I can't remember what size just now). The attachment piece will now slide over the machine thread and you will be able to thread and tighten the nut through the oversized from below. Before you put it on throw on bit of glue on the ends just to keep it from moving around, and put it all together. Put a wood plug in the bottom hole to plug it.You will have to sand the parts a bit later on to get everything to match up. Most places that supply the railing parts supply the wood plug.

2) Sames as option one but just use threaded rod and drill into both pieces. More hassle but if you can't get the hardware for option A it is an option.

If this doesn't make sense let me know and
I'll try and explain more clearly.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I figured that a system like this must exist. The part I was missing was the wood plug at the end to cover up the hole.

Since this is done millions of times a day (judging by the rate of McMansions going up around here), there must be a straightforward way to do it.

Thanks

[Dave Richards]

I'm probably too late but my thinking for this would be to drill a couple of holes in the end of the rail and locate matching ones in the end piece. Make the ones in the end piece slightly oversized for adjustment. Epoxy threaded rod or even wooden dowels into the end of the rail and then epoxy the end piece on. Adjust it until is right and let the epoxy cure.

I'm guessing the bottom of the rail is flat so you could clamp a flat stick to both pieces to aid in alignment. If you cover the stick with clear packing tape, the epoxy won't adhere to the stick and it'll pop right off when cured.

[Chris Padilla]

1) A fasterner that has wood screw on one end and machine screw on the other end.

I believe that is called a hanger bolt.

Pocket screws might work, too. They have plugs available to fit the holes, too.

[Steve Clardy]

Heres what you need. They can be bought where staircase parts are sold.
Make you a template of the railing end, drill a hole in it, 1/4", hold it to your rail, drill hole for hangar bolt, move template to attaching end, drill hole again. Then underneath the end to be attached, drill a 1" hole with a forester bit. This hole needs to be deeper then the 1/4" hole that you have drilled in the end of it. This hole will allow you to put the tapered plastic washer, flat washer and nut on. Use glue on your joint when assembling. Test fit everything before you glue. Now, that hole is kind of tight when you try to get your box end wrench it there, so you may have to take an old wrench and grind it down fairly thin to get it in there to tighten the nut. They make a special wrench for this.There also is a tapered plug that comes with these to fill the hole.
I do this for a living along with cabinet making. Need anything else, just holler. If you can't find one of these, I'll send you one. Steve