Boxing in a steel post - Woodworking Talk

beerdog · 03-13-2009, 01:21 AM

What is the best approach to covering this post in wood? I am also planning on replacing the wrought iron rail with a wood railing. I posted on the DIY site but wanted to see anyone on this site had a different opinion.

scribbles · 03-13-2009, 01:26 AM

Make a box, make it bout 1/4 bigger all the way around, squirt a bunch of panel adhesive in the void, and wait for it to dry.

beerdog · 03-13-2009, 01:56 AM

would you make a mitered corner on each corner?

scribbles · 03-13-2009, 02:11 AM

that is what i would do, just miter them on a table saw. If you dont have a table saw, a but joint would work, just not look as good.

creative novice · 03-13-2009, 06:59 AM

why not replace it with a turned post? you might need to temporarily brace whatever it is supporting..........

jiju1943 · 03-13-2009, 09:37 AM

As for the rail you could plow out a wooden rail and fit over the metal rail.

firehawkmph · 03-13-2009, 10:06 AM

Beerdog,
You have a slight advantage over the typical round jackpost. I make them like scribbles, about a 1/8" bigger all the way around. I do a butt joint and fasten the first three sides with pocket screws. The last side I use biscuits. Then I route a roundover edge on all four edges and stop short on the top and the bottom to let me maintain a square edge there for base and crown mold. In your case with the railing going on after, I would push the post up against the side of the steel post where the railing attaches to take the slack out of the assembly once the other end of the railing is attached to the other post. Should be no chance of it working loose that way.
Mike Hawkins

clampman · 03-14-2009, 03:33 AM

And after the railing is on, you can always drill a few holes through the wood and squirt some foam insulation in there with the little straw. That stuff will stick to ladyfish slime.

scribbles · 03-14-2009, 01:06 PM

The foam will not hold up. Use construction adhesive / sub-floor adhesive. It does not mater if it sticks, it will be on all 4 sides, and act like a custom shim. Nice and hard. Just use it liberally slice the 3 sided case over it, and cap it off. If you want to miter the corners just cut them at 46' and use a biscuit jointer and band clamps. And do what firehawkmph recommended, leave enough flat top and bottom for trim.

clampman · 03-15-2009, 10:19 PM

When you wrap the post, you want to make it loose because it is going to shrink and the steel post will not.

If you use construction adhesive, I would NOT apply it liberally. You will be better off laying thick beads centered on each side of the post and run vertically to insure that the wood will/can shrink equally from each side of center and not blow out your mitered corners.

Cheers,
Jim

beerdog · 09-26-2009, 01:38 AM

Finally getting arround to taking pictures. I ended up using 1/2 birch all arround the pole with but joints. Used CA to attach it to the pole and trim nails to close the ends. HAd to make my own trim for the top. HAs a few mistakes but only I notice. Pretty satisfied considering it is my first wood project.

beerdog · 09-26-2009, 01:46 AM

might as well post pics of the rest of the project. The satisfying part was I took my time with every cut and they all fit perfect.

woodnthings · 09-26-2009, 07:34 AM

Beerdog, if this project is an indication of your woodworking skills you are a genius! Great job, you should be proud.

How did you make the railing?

bill

beerdog · 09-26-2009, 11:10 AM

I just used off the shelf parts. Then followed the traditional methods in the LJ Smith manual and a few books from the library. To ensure precision cuts I made some jigs for cutting the curved parts and drilling the mating holes for the pin top ballusters. I enjoyed doing it and learned allot. I would admit that this was a bit much to chew off for a biginner. I could easily see someone hacking this up. I was actually at a house for sale in my neighborhood recently where they did the same thing and it looked real sloppy. I did not realize how much of a difference getting a precision fit makes untill I saw theirs.

Suprisingly, the best advice I got when I started was from a friend who used to be a carpenter. He said the old timers who trained him always said to try for perfection and you might get close. But if you try for "close enough" it will always look terrible.

On to the next project!

ihackwood · 09-29-2009, 06:25 PM

yea i had a customer tell me once, the mark of a good carpenter is not the mistakes he made its how he fixed his mistakes ,

you did a nice job, keep it up