Tips& Tactics n Simplifying irregular railing work — in 6 steps Use a jig made of tire rims and welding fixtures. By Peter Hildebrandt
method he felt was frustratingly slow and clunky. To construct these irregular railings more easily, Walsh recently came up with a unique system to build the railings through the use of round tire rims. He feels that once you use this system, you will never go back to the old way. For him it has been revolutionary in the simplification of his work on irregular stair railings.
For many years, Robert Walsh, R.
Walsh Gate & Railing Co., Pepin, WI, had always done the layout and construction work for railings, flat or horizontal, on his layout table. But railings often involve shapes that are irregular, curves or angles, and, in these cases, the flat horizontal layout
Step He starts with a basic 15-inch 1 steel tire rim (Walsh has six
such rims in his shop). The rims have a reasonably plumb section of pipe welded in the center with two
tachments long sections of 4-inch square tubing are laid horizontally. And on top of the tubing, sheets of plywood can be laid to make temporary tables in various sizes for a project as needed.
used to establish the plan view. Elevation measurements are then taken with a laser beam and surveyer’s pole. Both railings will receive laterals.
Step For this railing project in the 4 rims, which are bolted to the
Step The current project Walsh is 3 working on is two curved raillocking T-bolts. And then an additional three-legged base is often bolted to this rim, via the stud with the nut to the right of the pipe. On the end of the three legs are vertical adjusting bolts used to make everything plumb.
Step When additional layout table 2 space is needed, Walsh slips
attachments like this into the wheel rim bases. On top of these at-
ings for both sides of the new steps shown here. The foot locations are laid out on the duct tape. Measurements and triangulations are
W R IT E!
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Fabricator n September/October 2010