building an outside handrail

[Walter Heger]

I am building an outside metal handrail because I was unhappy with the ones from Home Depot, Walmart, E-Bay and Lowes. You would think that EBay would have what I want, but it seems as if it is all the same things. The closest that I found was

it is not inclined.

I have a nice piece of chrome plated curved pipe (width of a US quarter coin) that I want to use for a nice house in a good neighborhood with an HMO. The hand rail would look like the greek letter "pi". Unfortunately, I could not match it with matching straight pieces. I ended up buying an zinc plated electrical conduit. Is that too tacky. Should I paint everything black.

How do I join the upper section to the columns. I was thinking of using something like

that is not right either, as I want to join the center piece not at the ends but at 1/3 and 2/3rd along the top piece. I was thinking of putting a large anchor into the end piece and putting a bolt down into it. Don't know how to get the bolt into the upper curved piece. Maybe shave off the ends along the column and put it into a drilled hole, and them insert and rotate the shaft Hopefully, it wont come undone.

My other idea was to spot weld the pieces together?

it get too hot off a 12 V battery? Do I need to get 2 car batteries? Can I use a pair of eclipse lenses instead of a welding helmet? Or do you think this is better left to someone at a weld shop?

I don't know if JB-Weld (JB would work with the temperature variations between the seasons?

I don't want the joints showing, so don't want an outer coupler.

[Walter]

I was also thinking of crimping the column and to stick it inside the top rail. Is there a tool for that, as I had seem some joints like that, but for inline connections!

[Terry Coombs]

  Around here (north central Arkansas) we look up a local blacksmith and have it all custom built and installed - oh , and they usually work in steel . Except me , I build all my own shit . Just finished a log cradle for my gas powered splitter , last week I built a small swiveling jib crane to lift the logs . Both projects involved bandsaw cutting , grinding , welding (MIG and TIG) and on the case of the crane , machining bushings and centering sleeves . Oh , and I'm just a cabinet maker . I wonder what a real machinist/welder/yada yada metalworker could do !   In case that wasn't much help , get your ass over to a local business who does this kind of work . Pay them and keep the money local . Fuck Homey Depot and Blowes .

[Dean Hoffman]

Your local plumber or electrician should have tools to bend the pipe depending on how thick it is. How about Craiglist? Maybe there would be someone there who does that sort of thing if you can't find a machinist or welding shop.