These are white oak barley twisted balusters for a customer in Idaho. I am grateful that they remembered to send me pictures of the final staircase. We made the newels to match the balusters as you can see. The balusters are 2 1/2″ wide at the base. The “pins” at the top are 1 3/8″. The architect strictly wanted two balusters per tread with pin tops. The pins, as such, had to be quite large to meet the four inch rule which is required in most communities.
Lyptus is a very hard hardwood imported from South America that has gained some popularity in the US in the last few years. Lyptus is a wood that is being grown on farms and harvested by some produces. In hardness it is probably slightly harder than red oak but it seems to me to vary quite a bit in harness from one piece to another. It is pinkish in color with a rather wild grain pattern in many pieces. These stair newels went to an interesting stairway in Illinois.
I thought these newels were an interesting switch. The newel cap that we added to these is normally reserved for an over-the-post newel where the hand rail miters into the cap. But in this case the customers wanted the cap added to a post-to-post newel. These are crafted in poplar to be painted. The larger of the four newel ( eight inches wide at the base) will sit at the bottom of the stairway – the “starters”. The smaller, five an one half inch newels will be installed at the balcony level.
These 4 inch wide rope moldings were made for a customer in CA. The images are taken of the three footer and the eight footer. There was also a 6 footer and 4 footer. The longer molding was made in poplar to be painted. The shorter piece was from alder. To make these the two halves were glued with news paper between. After the pieces were turned and roped one simply has to use a hammer and chisel to split them with little trouble. Presumably these will be used to apply to cabinet fronts. Should look great.
Pictured above are four barley twisted table legs turned for a customer in Florida. They measure 3 1/2″ wide and 30 inches high. Normally table legs are made 29 inches in high to produce a 30 inch overall high with the table top thickness of one inch. But my customer needed the extra inch to make a wider apron (the horizontal member that connects the legs and supports the table top).
For a table with a 30 inch height normally you would not have less than 24 inches from the apron to the floor for knee space though most would probably consider 24 inches a tight squeeze.
These balusters are for a court house in Texas. They are rendered but not completed. In fact, the samples are not made yet but I thought I would draw and render them in Sketchup and Renderworks. I’ll be turning about a hundred of them in pine. They measure 2 1/2″ X 27″. I have not seen the rail profiles yet so my rendering is not yet complete.
The following renderings are different versions of a pedestal newel I am developing. They go from about 5 1/2 inch base with 3 1/2 inch turning to about a 8 inch square base with 5 1/2 inch diameter turning. All models depict over the post style newel but certainly a post to post newel could be made. These would have to be shipped in pieces so that the final length of the base could be cut. The column and moldings could be attached after the base is cut and installed.
The spiral top of the newel below is another variation on a theme. Of course, there are endless possibilities. The bases on these have recessed flat panels which could be made with raised panels or left plain. The ionic columns could be fluted as well as plain.
As you can tell I enjoy modeling and rendering probably more than creating the actual thing though I do get a kick out of seeing the finished product come into being. I design quite a few newels and balusters for stairways. I don’t however design many box newels. This one is quite simple with fluting, and an inserted star (great for the lone star state). For Louisianians, a Fleur de le (especially after the Saints won the Super Bowl) would be nice – maybe a magnolia flower for Mississippi.
The newel also has a chamfered top.
This is a table that I intend to build one day. I like the base with the four columns instead of your typical table legs and aprons. Asa bonus you have more leg room (room above your knees and thighs) -good for large folks. I prefer a painted base with stained or natural wood top. The painted base accents the wood better than having all natural or stain in my view.
These balusters were turned for a customer in San Francisco. The sort of odd thing about these is that although the center diameter is 1 3/4 inches the square ends (not shown) are 1 1/4 inches. That is why I am turning the center area separately. The square top and bottom will be added after.
