mouting a handrail to the top edge of a 4 x 2 beam.

On 24 Oct 2016, Capitol grunted:

FWIW I needed some of these a few years ago, and never managed to find any. Odd, isn't it? Ended up getting mine custom-made at a local steel fabricator / engineering eorkshop. Wasn't prohibitively expensive

But how common is the requirement? Whereas wall brackets are used everywhere, and readily available.

I read the OP and thought it was a bit vague. The obvious solution, as Jim said, is just to screw the handrail onto the corner of the beam. I'd bevel the edge first.

It would be possible to make spacers to provide an offset if required.

Long screws and some spacers made from 32mm drain pipe?

print some spacers if you have a 3d printer.

Buy some..

Nearly. but the base is too wide and really needs to be rectangular.

You said "the top edge" originally. Do you just mean the top face, then?

Yes a 2in wide face.

No probs. I was trying to work out a solution for mounting it on the edge, where two faces meet. Hence, I suggested bevelling that edge.

Try googling straight handrail bracket or straight handrail support. Lots available.

You havn't really supplied much info. Is the handrail wood or a tube?

If the latter then there are brackets to support those rails used as a foot rest and hand rails at bars and counters ect.

May be something on this site,

Shop fitters supplies would be another source as well.

G.Harman

On 24 Oct 2016, newshound grunted:

Dunno, but in my case there wasn't any simple alternative. Mine was a refurb of an ex-council house which I did about 10 years ago - I've found a photo:

Ideally I'd have removed the solid white 'block' going up the right-hand side of the stairs, but it was far too much work, so the compromise was to prettify it with the wooden handrail. There really wasn't any way to do it using wall brackets.

The original had been a hideous length of scaffolding pole, really, with welded-on brackets