Making a Custom Curved Handrail

Restoration Project Handrail

Custom woodworking can take a lot of unexpected directions sometimes.

This railing is for a restoration project in our area. The new piece of railing needed is less than four feet long and the rail profile is not available. In fact the goose neck on the original railing appears to be hand made which is what we will do also.

Often times we can reproduce old moldings and woodworking with machine made parts that are very close to the original moldings. But once in a while we have to carve or otherwise replicate antique woodwork.

I wanted to play around a bit with this project and tried the draw knife to shape the curves on this oval rail profile. Once carved to a close shape the rail will be sanded smooth and ready for paint.

Antique Woodwork Keeps Things Interesting

One interesting aspect of the work will be the need to fit this oval railing goose neck directly into a ball on the top of one newel post. I told the architect that this joint would likely be the most difficult I ever had to make in my nearly 50 years of carpentry and woodworking. I am planning to hand carve that joint and maybe we can make a time lapsed video to demonstrate our hoped for success.