Hopefully if you got to this page, you already know that a
newel is that large post that anchors the handrail and balustrade to the stairs.
The wood that went into the newel was a single board twelve
feet long and two inches (a full two inches) thick. Cut into two
five foot pieces, and joined to itself using 30 biscuits (slots cut in
photo left), the finished dimensions would be 4 inches by 3.5 inches.
It took every clamp I own (now I own a lot more!) to
generate the pressure to close the gap on those two pieces of two inch
maple.
This updated shot shows the two nicely contrasting hole
plugs at the bottom of the newel, covering where the lag screws mount it
to the stair carriages. Click on the image for an enlargement.
The digital camera makes a big difference, eh?
Atlantis website copyright Jim Rutherford 2000-2016
