Been busy in the woods again, this time making some handrails for bridges.
No screws or nails used with the exception of bolting the uprights to the bridge bearers to hopefully stop vandalism.
The top handrails are secured with a foxtail wedge tenon which is a really strong locking joint and the lower rails are pegged with edges added.
Overall really happy with the result especially as it was my first attempt plus without help and work bench etc it did take quite a bit of time to complete.
The original had handrails but had been vandalised for firewood as they were only nailed, there is about 5-6ft drop so the rail was desperately needed.
(no idea why this image is shown upside down?)
All the wood is from coppiced hazel which is generally my wood of choice as it's always available and easily replaced if needed.
With the failing light of winter I managed to get two posts fitted after work each day.
Once the posts were all in the fun began with handrails, this was a bit of fun finding a 4m+ length of straight hazel was interesting, connecting the rail to the post was the foxtail wedge tenon
First you cut a normal tenon then cut two slots near the edges, these slots with then enable a wedge to be fitted which locks the joint firmly.
Because the whole job was done out in the woods after cutting each joint I then had to move on to the next as well as aligning the posts with the natural bends and twists of the wood.
So the finished job probably took around 30hrs to complete which includes walking to the site and back with tools etc. I also managed to build a smaller 2.5mtr section as a tester to my idea.
No screws or nails used with the exception of bolting the uprights to the bridge bearers to hopefully stop vandalism.
The top handrails are secured with a foxtail wedge tenon which is a really strong locking joint and the lower rails are pegged with edges added.
Overall really happy with the result especially as it was my first attempt plus without help and work bench etc it did take quite a bit of time to complete.
The original had handrails but had been vandalised for firewood as they were only nailed, there is about 5-6ft drop so the rail was desperately needed.
(no idea why this image is shown upside down?)
All the wood is from coppiced hazel which is generally my wood of choice as it's always available and easily replaced if needed.
With the failing light of winter I managed to get two posts fitted after work each day.
Once the posts were all in the fun began with handrails, this was a bit of fun finding a 4m+ length of straight hazel was interesting, connecting the rail to the post was the foxtail wedge tenon
First you cut a normal tenon then cut two slots near the edges, these slots with then enable a wedge to be fitted which locks the joint firmly.
Because the whole job was done out in the woods after cutting each joint I then had to move on to the next as well as aligning the posts with the natural bends and twists of the wood.
So the finished job probably took around 30hrs to complete which includes walking to the site and back with tools etc. I also managed to build a smaller 2.5mtr section as a tester to my idea.
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