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+-- Thread: Baluster Design (/showthread.php?tid=7378548)
RE: Baluster Design - jteneyck - 05-27-2025
(05-27-2025, 04:41 PM)Woodenfish Wrote: I can’t imagine what a bunch of kids would be stuffing into that bird box if those holes were real. Looking at the picture it didn’t appear like those holes were actually open.
They look like real but blind holes to me. No birds allowed. Speaking of birds, did the designer actually think that roof on top of the newel looked good?
John
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 05-27-2025
(05-27-2025, 02:40 PM)FrankAtl Wrote: "Concern is that if the chisel does cut a clean square hole, will the bit wander to one side (as many do, including the one that came with my mortiser) and create an oval on one side? "
I've never owned or used a hollow chisel mortiser but I would think one set up correctly and with a decent chisel would work. Are the benchtop ones like you have known for wandering?
Wandering and cutting an ellipse is often mentioned in the articles I've seen online about these mortisers. It doesn't seem to matter much in the traditional use of these machines, i.e. mortise and tenon joints.
Doug
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 05-27-2025
(05-27-2025, 04:50 PM)jteneyck Wrote: They look like real but blind holes to me. No birds allowed. Speaking of birds, did the designer actually think that roof on top of the newel looked good?
John
Could be blind holes; I can't tell from the photo. When someone mentioned kids stuffing things through the holes, makes sense they would be blind. As for the "birdbox" looks like this pic is from a Brit web site. Could be a thing over there.
Doug
RE: Baluster Design - MKepke - 05-28-2025
I wouldn’t count on a hobby/light commercial mortising machine to cut ‘finish quality’ mortises.
Even with a clean entry, the exit hole is likely to be a bit ragged.
Use a router jig or CNC and finish squaring the corners with a chisel.
(The irony of building A&C style this way is not lost on me).
If you decide to go with decorative pegs, a nice looking option is to make your plugs out of oak and stain them jet black. India ink is a readily available stain.
-Mark
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 05-28-2025
(05-28-2025, 10:55 AM)MKepke Wrote: I wouldn’t count on a hobby/light commercial mortising machine to cut ‘finish quality’ mortises.
Even with a clean entry, the exit hole is likely to be a bit ragged.
Use a router jig or CNC and finish squaring the corners with a chisel.
(The irony of building A&C style this way is not lost on me).
If you decide to go with decorative pegs, a nice looking option is to make your plugs out of oak and stain them jet black. India ink is a readily available stain.
-Mark
The only way, as I see it, to create a through square hole without tearout is to punch from both sides of the piece. Since right now I'm planning on 5/8" for the thickness for the balusters, this punch from Lee Valley would probably do the job. It would be registered from both sides to be able to meet in the middle, at least in theory creating a clean square hole. Clean up with a square file for smooth walls.
Removing waste first with a drill or Forstner bit is suggested, which should make the square chisel easier to cut. Question would be how efficient would this process be given the number of balusters necessary for this project? Only way to know is to try it and see.
A router jig will only work if you cut two holes at a time, not 4. With a 1/8" diameter router bit using a PC type collar, a 4 hole pattern will not work; too much overlap. Working with a 1/2" square hole, there's not much room in which to work. As I see it, you could make a pattern jig with the two vertical holes in it. Register it to the desired location for the pattern, rout out the two holes, register the jig on the other edge of the baluster, secure it with clamps and rout out the other two holes. Corners of each hole would then have to be squared up with a file/rasp.
Still no word from the CNC folks in my area.
Doug
RE: Baluster Design - Gary G™ - 05-28-2025
Using a mortising machine, you could use thicker stock, then plane to finished thickness thereby eliminating any visible tearout.
Could even hot-glue on a sacrificial substrate like poplar.
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 05-28-2025
(05-28-2025, 04:53 PM)Gary G™ Wrote: Using a mortising machine, you could use thicker stock, then plane to finished thickness thereby eliminating any visible tearout.
Could even hot-glue on a sacrificial substrate like poplar.
Good ideas Gary. Considered using thicker stock; could be an option. Also thought about using a backer board to help prevent tearout. Didn't work very well on the tests I've run.
Finally made contact with a couple of CNC shops by phone today. Both seem promising as far as being able to do the job. We'll see on price. I'll probably visit with them in the next few days. Stay tuned.......
Doug
RE: Baluster Design - EightFingers - 05-29-2025
Don’t use a mortiser on that design, it will break the “bars” in the squares. I made some like that and I used a CNC. If you don’t have one you could have someone who does make you a template so you can route them out. That way you’re not using up a lot of someone else’s cnc time
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 05-30-2025
(05-29-2025, 12:47 PM)EightFingers Wrote: Don’t use a mortiser on that design, it will break the “bars” in the squares. I made some like that and I used a CNC. If you don’t have one you could have someone who does make you a template so you can route them out. That way you’re not using up a lot of someone else’s cnc time
I've made contact with a local CNC operator, sent him a photo and sketch with dimensions of the project and he seems to think he can do the job. Meeting with him this weekend and we plan to do a few trial runs on some scrap stock I'm taking over to his shop; we'll see.
Stay tuned.......
Doug
RE: Baluster Design - Tapper - 06-01-2025
Update:
Met with the CNC operator today (nice guy - very cordial meeting). Ideal situation for me - he does this on evenings and weekends in his home shop, an IT person pursuing it as a side business. He had done most of the program setup beforehand, working off of the photo and dimensioned drawing I had sent to him earlier. I took over some oak scraps already milled to width and thickness and he cut out the holes on the CNC (see below).
[attachment=54736]
I thought the test pieces came out well. Think I'm going to have him just cut out the 4 square holes. I'll cut the offsets at the bottom on my table saw and RAS with a stop block setup. He could cut the outline of the entire baluster but his 1/8" diameter bit leaves a rough edge on the sides that a glueline blade will not. I'll also cut the angles on the top and bottom of the stair balusters to fit when I get the handrails installed and the exact height of each one determined.
In the two examples, one is 5/8" thick and the other one is 3/4". Right now I'm leaning towards the 5/8" thick one. I'll see what my handrail looks like when I get the test example milled. I received the Whiteside router bit for the side profile and the concave bit that smooths out the top of the handrail is on its way from Grizzly (on sale fortunately). These two bits will hopefully work well together; some sanding required I'm sure. Since the holes came out so nicely, haven't decided whether I'll attempt to make all the inside corners perfectly square with a file or not.
If my calculations are close I'll need about 60 in all, including the square top and bottom ones for the landing/loft area. Price estimate should be coming soon.
Doug