Need help assembling railing...

[mrnewman3]

Hi All....

I need to assemble a railing system for the stairs going to my basement. I am planning to have an oak handrail with holes drilled into the underside of it where the ballusters will be inserted.

My question is.... What is the best/easiest way to drill the holes? I do not have a drill press. Considering that the railing will be installed at approximately a 45 degree angle, I need a way to drill holes at an angle. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Chuck

[LarryG]

This will almost take longer to describe than do.

Get the longest drill bit you can find (within reason) in the required size.

Cut a block of wood that's about as thick as your railing and not quite as tall as your drill bit is long. Drill a vertical hole down through its centers. It should look like the top sketch, below.

Cut off the block's bottom to match the angle of your stairs. BTW, this should be in the 30 to 35 degree range -- unless your stair isn't code-compliant, in which case it might well be closer to a 45. Anyway, now the block will look like the bottom sketch.

Affix this to the bottom of your railing, either with clamps or double-stick tape, and use the hole to guide your bit as you drill each hole.


EDIT: If you retain the cut-off portion of the block, you can put it on the opposite side of the rail and make the whole works easier to clamp together. Personally, I'd just use some double-stick tape. Also, make the block out of hardwood as that will be less prone to get wallowed out by the bit as you drill the several holes.

[RickLab]

Very nice! Simple and gets the job done. If he gets the height of the block right it will even function as a depth gauge.

[mrnewman3]

Hey hey..... Beautiful.. Elegant simplicity. Thank you....

[JimD]

You can also get an angled drill guide - Harbor freight has one as do others - that saves making the block.

Jim

[crokett]

Even simpler... Since you never see the holes underneath, alll the railings I've worked on the holes were drilled straight into the railing. They were not angled. They were at a big enough diameter and deep enough that the baluser still fit even at an angle. A few finish nails to pin and they won't move. Just something to consider.

[mrnewman3]

Jim - Harbor Freight.... That would work... I didn't think about looking there... They usually have stuff like this.....

David - I thought about drilling the holes as you suggested... Unfortunately I'm such a perfection freak that "I would know" how the holes were drilled even if I couldn't see them. So, that is out.. It's a curse.

[crokett]

David - I thought about drilling the holes as you suggested... Unfortunately I'm such a perfection freak that "I would know" how the holes were drilled even if I couldn't see them. So, that is out.. It's a curse.

Yeah, I used to be like that. Buy a house, then spend 2 years working on home improvement projects more or less always on a deadline. That'll cure ya pretty quickly.

[mrnewman3]

Yeah, I used to be like that. Buy a house, then spend 2 years working on home improvement projects more or less always on a deadline. That'll cure ya pretty quickly.

I bought the house 9 years ago and have been DIYing ever since....... Unfortunately I think my disease has gotten worse. 8-0