Hand Rail #1 - May 2019
Larry needed a 12" long exterior handrail for one of his rentals he was preparing to sell, and couldn't find one long enough at any of the local suppliers in town, so he asked me to make one.
I used a 1" cove type router bit, with two passes to safely achieve the 3/8" depth, and then adjusted the location of the fence to achieve the specified width of the groove, with two more passes for depth. I repeated those operations on the opposite side to obtain specified handrail dimensions from city planners. Rail was a treated 2x6, so was 5 1/2 " wide and 12 feet long. Final width of rail needed to be 5.25 inches. This ripping operation required a clear table saw outfeed table, plus relocating the Kreg router table to gain adequate working space. I used the Kreg table with easily adjustable depth controls (MLCS Power Lift), to achieve 3/8" depth on each side. After routing the grooves, I ripped the 2x6 to width, then rounded over the edges with 1/4" round-over bit. Finally I sanded the entire handrail, both sides, with a mouse sander and 120 grit sandpaper.
The 2x6 was fairly dry after resting in the garage for a few weeks before milling.
Hand Rail #2 - July 2019
The 2x6 was still very wet, after bringing home from Mneards the day before milling. This created some interesting challenges during the routing process.
