Bannisters - Any Advice?

[GMM]

I have a 1960's house which is open plan ( a bit of a pain in a number of ways) and the stairs rise from one side of the living room. Originally, these had a non-standard bannister (long parallel planks of hardwood fixed to steel uprights), which was removed before my time, leaving the stairs open. I've been toying with putting a regular bannister on but the design pretty much precludes using a normal bottom rail for the spindles, as the treads overlap the string. Tempting as it is to simply junk the whole thing and replace, I'd be reluctant to ditch good hardwood for an mdf stair kit.

It seems to me the options are to use the spindles that screw in top and bottom with brackets (not only expensive, but 'er indoors doesn't like the look) or to find a way to fix the bottoms of the spindles directly into the string. The only thing I can think of is a hefty vertical dowel between the string and the base of the spindles. Does this sound like a good plan, or does anyone have a better idea? (I thought of biscuits, but I think these would be too broad)

If this is the way, does anyone have any cunning plans for making a jig to drill the holes for the dowels vertically into the string? It seems to me that either this has to be done very accurately or the holes have to be over-sized to allow a little play, then the dowels set in resin or something that will set after clamping each spindle into position (which sounds a bit inelegant, somehow, and might compromise strength).

Any suggestions gratefully received. G

[George]

This jig is for setting screws at angles, dunno if thats what you're on about?

[Stuart Noble]

I'd go for your last suggestion. Oversized holes and car body filler. Certainly strong enough and probably the only reliable way of getting a perfect fit

[John Rumm]

This sounds similar to the arrangement frequently seen on American stairs, where the spindles sit (usually in groups of two or three) on each tread rather than a string. Bit like:

[GMM]

Good suggestion John but, sadly, my stairs aren't like that. The treads are cut so that they protrude about 1 1/2 inch horizontally in front of the string and overlap about half it's thickness, so they're neither one thing nor the other. If I fitted the spindles to the treads they be in a sort of odd place for the line of the handrail. Basically, I'll have to dodge each tread.

Unfortunately, the screw jig is a fixed angle - I'm guessing that the string runs at about 45 degrees (though bet it's not *exactly* anything in particular) and I'll need to drill vertically down into it, so it looks like Stuart's suggestion of car body filler might be the way to go, holdng everythng in place while it sets. I've never used it near wood before, so I'll have to do a little experiment or two to get a feel for it.......I wonder if threaded studs would be better than dowels with the filler, to give it a bit of a key?

Thanks chaps G

[John Rumm]

Could you extend the string first to leave it looking more like a conventional "fully housed" string? Then you could use a traditional bottom rail.

(some photos might help!)