Cherry Stair Rails

Today, with the vast majority of homes being mass produced, there are few items that are actually custom. Since my wife enjoys painting/decorating, she added the project of custom stair rails to my honey-do list.

Since we desired a warm wood with red undertones, cherry seemed to be the ideal choice. I ended up finding an 8/4 piece about 9’ long at the local WW store and went to work. It proved to be a huge challenge working with such large stock. Apparently, the piece I selected also contained some reaction wood because once I ripped it, I had some severe bows to deal with. Ultimately, I learned a lot about handplanes for truing a surface.

As far as the ying-yan inlay, I created those by creating a sandwich of purple heart and maple then cutting it all out on the scroll saw. I glued up the opposing colors and sanded them flat plus a slight bevel along the edges. I traced the outlines onto the ends of the rails. Primarily removing the waste with my router, the final cuts were pared out by hand.

The rails were finished with a 1lb coat of shellac to seal them. I will look back at my notes for what else I applied after the shellac because it’s apparently too early this morning and the mind won’t click.

Completed 1-2007

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