The rail is scrapped to remove most of the glue. It is a hard material once dried, and scrapping the glue before sanding reduces wear and tear on the sandpaper. (4/20/06)

The glue lines have virtually disappeared once the rail has been sanded. (4/20/06)

There are a couple of places both at the top and the bottom of the rail that separated slightly (or more accurately put, weren't clamped down tight enough). The gaps are small, and not structurally significant. A little wood filler will hide the gap at the top, and the gap at the bottom will likely be cut off when the rail is fully assembled. (4/20/06)

For the most part, the top of the rail worked out well. Unfortunately, underneath, there were some problems. The larger gaps were cleaned out of any glue, and re-glued using Gorilla Glue, a gap-filling glue. The small gaps are completely filled with glue, so there is nothing to fill. The tops of these gaps were scrapped down so they can be filled with wood filler. (4/22/06)

All the gaps have been repaired. (4/22/06)

I added Oak boards along both sides of the stairs to dress them up and to keep the drywall from getting kicked. The boards were glued in place, and the braces used to create the curved handrail are screwed to the floor to hold them in place until the glue cures. Shims were used as wedges for an extra measure of clamping pressure. (4/29/96)

The handrail was temporarily held in place so is can be cut to size. (4/29/96)

In order to keep the balusters evenly spaced, the baluster that rests on the nose of the two stairs are set in place first, then the field filled in evenly. It took some trial and error to get them all to fit just right. (4/29/96)

The balusters meet the rail at an angle. A drill guide clamped to the railing is used to ensure the angles are correct and consistent. (6/6/06)

The balusters had to be cut carefully to make sure the angle of the transition point from round main portion to the square bottom matches the angle of the handrail. (5/20/06)

The balusters not only had to be spaced evenly, but also angled properly on the base plate. The balusters are bolted up through the bottom of the base plate and the base plate is screwed down to the stair. (5/20/06)

The rail is assembled from different pieces. In this case, an end cap is bolted to a straight section through a curved section. The top of the cap is not glued in place until the rail assembly is bolted to the end post. The bottom of the curved section separates for assembly, but is glued in place here. The glue will be scrapped off and the joints sanded to make the transition smooth. (5/29/06)