Bud LaMonica Handrails

[blazerbud]

I just completed the installaion of my hand forged handrails in my Sister's new house.



I also made the wooden rails out of solid poplar, and I gave them hand hewn tecture.



















The theme is based upon trees, and the tecture of some of the balusters matches the hand hewn poplar. The poplar rail on the wall was kind of tough to make, it is 14' long and made from a solid piece that was rough cut 3" x 8" and really gnarly, then I ripped it and planed it down to 2-1/2" x 2-1/4", and the edges are rounded over.

The house is new construction and you can see that the treadplates are not finished and the walls need touched up, I prepaired all of this so that I could install it fairly easily. The builder is a little behind on some things and needed me to install so he can get the house inspected. Hand rails are part of the important items, the rest of the paint and finish work isn't, so I was happy to have my part complete, but I was bummed to install finish work over unfinished surfaces. Even though I think that it will jerk me around some, I have insisted that I be the one who takes it all down and puts it back up when he has to finish the floors and walls.

Since this was for my Sister, I was trying to be as accomodating as possible so they can cram it all in before the closing date even though it seems to be going in in backwards order. I think I have a good appreciation now for why most really skilled subcontractors like finish carpenters won't do their install until everything under them is perfect. Stuff like stained crown molding doesn't come back down, and you don't want it ruined.

Please tell me what you think about my handy work. It is somewhat unconventional.

[Bryce Masuk]

I think its pretty cool

its not a typical handrail if the house suits it then it will look good

all your work seems to match itself

I am sure your sister is quite happy

[blazerbud]

I think its pretty cool

its not a typical handrail if the house suits it then it will look good

all your work seems to match itself

I am sure your sister is quite happy

Thank you Bryce.
This is a Spec House and it is her first house, so I just wanted to her to have something special that she can stand out from the rest of the cookie cutter homes in her neighborhood.

Thank you for noticing that the work matches. I think that the idea of stuff matching is very important for an over-all affect and it is something that is almost impossible for me to do but is often times overlooked.

For me, this was an important achievement. I am not a professional smithy or metal worker. I am a scientist/engineer and I have no ambitions for trying to get into this market even part time. My metal work is a hobby, and the creative energy required to achieve art is very useful in my career job also.