A set of reproduction porch balusters, made to match the originals from a historic Pennsylvania hotel. We lucked out on this one and got a sample of the originals to use as a pattern! The new ones will be cut in Western red cedar, theoretically considerably hardier and more weather-resistant over the next few decades than the original pine or proposed PVC. At the very least it looks a lot cooler, now they’re talking about clearcoating the railing instead of painting it white.
I like this design and am going to hang onto it for reuse in the future, not least because unlike a lot of these older ornate wooden balusters the profile runs entirely on the outside of the board, allowing us to just run it in a single pass instead of needing extra steps for pilot holes (not a big deal individually, adds up quickly when you’re making hundreds of them!)
The staircase rails were a new development and took some design fiddling to nest in a way that looked good and was structurally sound; the resulting geometry required half the panels to be a good deal skinnier in places, requiring (rare in cedar) long stretches of totally clear wood, but joined together as an assembly they’re plenty strong.
