Arch Wood Turnings :: Architectural Turnings

Publication Date:Tue, 17 May 2011 12:21:16 +0000

The lighthouse newel for this project was similar to a newel that we made for a customer in North Carolina. This particular stairway went to a customer in South Florida. The architect wanted to match the balusters to the newel so we created a simple taper with matching beads top and bottom. The wood paneling [...]
Read full article

New Tapered Baluster with Bead

Publication Date:Tue, 17 May 2011 00:37:54 +0000

This is a new baluster design that I thought I would draw and render before I actually manufactured it. I got the idea from a stairway I saw in the Pacific Northwest. It is a simple taper with a small bead right at the tread. The size is somewhat deceiving from the rendering. The diameter [...]
Read full article

North Carolina Twisted Staircase

Publication Date:Mon, 09 May 2011 22:02:18 +0000

These beauties went into a home in the Carolinas. (You’ve got to love the balcony with the large radiused rail.) There were two staircases in this home. The image below is the balcony seen from the first floor This is the rear stairway in the home. The difference in this staircase is that the [...]
Read full article

White Oak Barley Twisted Balusters

Publication Date:Mon, 09 May 2011 21:31:38 +0000

These are white oak barley twisted balusters for a customer in Idaho. I am grateful that they remembered to send me pictures of the final staircase. We made the newels to match the balusters as you can see. The balusters are 2 1/2″ wide at the base. The “pins” at the top are 1 3/8″. [...]
Read full article

Large Cherry Over-the-Post Newels

Publication Date:Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:53:37 +0000

We just finished these large stair newels for a customer in the Chicago area. They are crafted from cherry and measure eight inches wide at the base. I typically turn my over the post newels 44 inches high. The top is 5 1/2″ inches in diameter with a 3/4″ pin to attach the newel cap [...]
Read full article

Lyptus Newels

Publication Date:Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:24:54 +0000

Lyptus is a very hard hardwood imported from South America that has gained some popularity in the US in the last few years. Lyptus is a wood that is being grown on farms and harvested by some produces. In hardness it is probably slightly harder than red oak but it seems to me to vary [...]
Read full article

Interesting Poplar Stair Newels

Publication Date:Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:13:07 +0000

I thought these newels were an interesting switch. The newel cap that we added to these is normally reserved for an over-the-post newel where the hand rail miters into the cap. But in this case the customers wanted the cap added to a post-to-post newel. These are crafted in poplar to be painted. The larger [...]
Read full article

New Lighthouse Newel and Matching Balusters

Publication Date:Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:10:23 +0000

These marching newels and balusters went to a home in Key West, FL. Because Key West is a coastal city, the architect wanted to use a maritime design for the stairway. We had designed a lighthouse newel once before for a customer in NC and turned this one in a similar pattern. The balusters were [...]
Read full article

Large Rope Moldings

Publication Date:Mon, 27 Dec 2010 20:50:00 +0000

These 4 inch wide rope moldings were made for a customer in CA. The images are taken of the three footer and the eight footer. There was also a 6 footer and 4 footer. The longer molding was made in poplar to be painted. The shorter piece was from alder. To make these the two [...]
Read full article

Southern Yellow Pine Balusters

Publication Date:Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:16:15 +0000

These balusters are going to a historic preservation site – a nineteenth century court house near Dallas, TX. I have not done much in yellow pine – sappy wood. The “committee” wanted yellow pine because they believe it is what would have been used in this locale 150 years ago. The pine was furnished by [...]
Read full article