My neighbor is a farmer - I raid his scrap pile for pieces I can use.  The leaves/stems are 1/4" thick, forged from broken bale spears and old farm machinery axles...the verticals and horizontal pieces are 1/4-wall 4X3 and 1/4-wall 2X3...they cost just under $400 (ouch, ouch, ouch).  1/4-wall in those sizes were what my local steel shop had on hand.

I got 4 young local fellas to help me move it and bolt it in place (weights about 250#) - that cost me a few beers and 4 pieces of chocolate bourbon pecan pie, but generated much laughter.  Wife is most happy and I am most happy!

 

Looks great.  Well executed. Perhaps a lighter version could use C channel  for the horizontals and infill the top piece with a wooden rail?

However: personally I don't like things you can catch stuff on by the stairs.  Also, does your local building regs have a 4" rule? 

If I ever run up against the 4" ball rule I'll just clamp a piece of plexiglass over it...I'm out in the country with little code enforcement - thanks for the positive comments and concern.

It's a great looking design, elegant.     I have  personal  issues based on  a couple of things: Back in mineralogy class we had just shelled out a bit of money for our magnifiers to identify minerals with and our Professor  told us to NOT put them on a good strong piece of thong around our neck.  He mentioned doing so and almost hanging himself when he slipped on a talus slope and it had caught on a projection. Also,  I've slid down the stairs before when something I was carrying caught on a nice blunt Newel Post and yanked me back.

I'm with Thomas as, I like the design and layout. My concern would be if someone would stumble going down the stairs and grab one of the leaves, which could impale their hand or small children playing around it. Kids and animals have a propensity to sticking their heads through gaps.

Have you thought of one with snakes instead of the leaves?  You have a deft hand with the curves!

My second son liked the railing and the design, then commented that it did look "snakey".

I really like how it looks, very organic and not crowded. Like Thomas it scares me some, someone slipping or tripping on the stairs IS going to grab it and in a hurry, it could snag, stab or just catch and hang them. The other side has pointies that could snag a pants leg or robe and trip a person. 

Snakey is a good description, sort of like a carnivorous plant waiting for prey. 

Again I really like it and would find a safe place to display it.

Frosty The Lucky.

I think that it is quite nice as well.  Regardless of codes or code enforcement I would put tempered glass on the stairwell side for the sake of safety.  It would be more classy than plexiglass, get scratched less easily, and maybe might enhance the look.

After moving several pieces of houseware into and out of the front of the stairwell rail, this is the final effect...and now, back to making a few courting candle holder Christmas presents and some long-delayed motorcycle maintenance...

 

Attractive. Nicely done.

Frosty The Lucky

Thanks, Frosty...you have enough firewood stacked for winter?

Oh yeah, a good 7 cord, cut split and stacked in the shed. The stove is combusting merrily and the dachshunds are basking as I type. 

Iowa missed out on the tornado swarm I believe didn't it? Here's to you and yours enjoying a snug safe forever.

Frosty The Lucky

Herr Frosty,

The tornados missed Iowa. They hit central east Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.

It passed about two miles west of our house in St. Louis.

Mo. is no stranger to tornadoes.

We have a basement and a lot of insurance, 

which may help next time.

Many houses, here, do not have basements.

Regards to all.

SLAG.

Hmm are those ASPen leaves?  I like the bench too.

We use about 1 cord of softwood a year out here; but passive thermonuclear is our primary daytime heat.

We had to turn up the non-passive, second stage, thermonuclear combustorator some, it was -8f this morning and it hasn't gotten above -2f. Sunset was 14 minutes ago. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Mr Frosty, you can keep all that kinda weather up there! 

i didn’t appreciate last February when y’all mailed us that -35f weather down here! 

It’s a balmy 56f here peavine Oklahoma this evening an I still got logs burning in the shop stove lol

Extremes of weather is what you get for living so far from an ocean. 

It is -6f here right now but 25 miles up the Parks Highway in Willow it's -15 and looking to hit -20 and down tonight, to our -8 low. Willow is about 30 miles farther from Cook Inlet's Knik arm than Wasilla. It's usually about 5 degrees warmer in winter and cooler in summer in Anchorage which is surrounded on 2 sides by Cook Inlet's Turnagain and Knik arms.

The cold blast you guys enjoyed flowed straight down the continental plain between the polar cap and gulf of Mexico. It was constrained by the coastal mountains.

Last February it was unseasonably warm here, highs hit the 50s a couple times even. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Boy I hope I don’t see no more of that weather anymore! 

I was running back an forth between keeping the well house thawed, busting ice and keeping the barnyard in water an feed, then running to the shop to feed the shop stove, then running to the house to work on pipes and keep it warm enough for baby max an his momma, 

before last February the coldest I’d ever seen it here was-10 or -12 for one night an that was one time almost 20 years ago! 
 

i definitely got caught off guard when that happened this last spring, the crazy thing was it was In the 60sf just a couple days before it hit, 

I won’t make that mistake again… now I’m maintaining 7 ricks of cured oak firewood at all times! and I bought new stock tanks with heaters! And I’m keeping several hundred pounds of feed on hand, and I’ve serviced the tractors and im keeping a huge amount of howse diesel treatment in the tanks at all times to keep fuel from jelling, ive tested all equipment radiators antifreeze to make sure I won’t deal with blown freeze plugs agin, generators are serviced and ready and the list goes on lol, 

I might have went a little overboard but if some weather like that hits again I’ll be in a much better shape to respond to it! 

Willow, all your preparations for the cold have probably guaranteed that this winter will seldom go below freezing.  It won't be severely cold until you are unprepared again. 

This is the natural perversity of human affairs.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

You'd think someone who lives in a place with real weather would know that wouldn't you George.

Then again it may not go much below freezing but it can go more than 150mph. below freezing.

Frosty The Lucky.

Just got a happy birthday email from my AFS brother in Sri Lanka; average daily temp where he is at is 82 degF (28C).

Lol, George your probably right, it’s been pretty mild so far all we’ve had is a couple of frosts and there’s still some green in the field and around the property im still seeing some weeds growing,

but I’d rather be ready an not need it then need it an not be ready,

Frosty, the wind can definitely blow pretty strong around here,  there’s usually at least one bad storm a year sometimes more, that rips through here taking down buildings or tearing off roofs, downing power lines ect…

 

 

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