Here is what I was given to start this railing job: A cardboard template made by the homeowner. Not exactly an ideal thing for me, since I like to be sure of what I am building and make the template myself. But, given the time and budget constraints of the project, I did the best I could do with it.
I completely sketched out the handrail (based on the given template) on concrete, full scale, to get an idea of the finished product and what my limitations were in terms of where the posts could sufficiently attach via bolts into side of the concrete steps. This took some head scratching for the best aesthetic fit.
Once I got the design worked out, I cut, scribed, punched and drilled the materials. I used .083 mild steel square tube and .120 mild steel plate.
Here is everything laid out for one last check. The camera lens makes it look like it's out of square, but it's not. Everything where it belongs.
Next stage is clamping and layout for the welding. Welding is really 5 to 10 percent of the job. I was in a hurry to get this completed as my Dad had just went in to the hospital with complications from Chemo. So this was after I had clamped, tacked, and checked everything, the final welded product.
Some weld details... I've heard it said that "great minds work best under pressure" and I laid down some of my nicest mig weld beads to date. I was pretty happy with my welding on this one.
All open tube ends were capped and welded. I delivered the final product the next day. Under a lot of pressure with my day job, my Dad, and this project, it felt really good to deliver.
Here are the steps this rail was to attach to, on the brick side.
