Opinions on handrail/picket restoration

[JacquieJet]

Ha! Good idea. Their tiny fingers would make getting into all those nooks and crannies a breeze! LOL.

[CS in Low Hud]

Our place of a similar vintage had painted balusters but stained newel posts and rails. Everything had been covered with paint (even the treads) by the time we bought the place, but over time I stripped and restored the wood. What had been always painted, I painted again... and what had been stained, I clear coated. Here's what it looked like when we bought the place:


And what it looks like now:



A couple of things to note... the risers are all pained as well, except for the 3 stair risers that face into the living room below the landing. Getting all the paint out of the cracks (especially the bottom/ underside of the banister) was tricky. Dental tools (available at drugstores) work great, as does a very fine brush dipped into a dark brown paint matching the stain. Just hit the flecks of remaining white and clearcoat.

Chris

[phil]

im eyeing up your victorian chair. I have somethign similar in my basement and Im doing some wood repairs and looking for some sort of fabric that would suit an old chair like that.

I agree with Chris's notes on stripping and since JacquieJet has wee ones to work around it might be best then just to do a bit at a time. It can be done in steps without taking anything apart and that might be less upsetting to the household.

one of the most important tools for stripping is a card scraper. the corners are handy and after i use stripper I usually just use a card scraper to get down to fresh wood and remove any remaining paint or surface contamination from the stripper.

If you have really strong hands you don't need the holder but it helps even still especially if you want to cut towards yourself.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... &cat=1,310

[JacquieJet]

Wow Chris, thanks for the photos! Your work is gorgeous! Definitely a huge improvement. I really like that green colour, too. Nicely done!

And thanks for the idea, Phil. I LOVE LeeValley! Kind of dangerous, heh heh. Go looking for one thing, end up with ten...

[phil]

if you want a scraper but don't want to drop a bunch of cash. you can use a piece of an old handsaw. it's a good use for a rusty one or one one with a crack or kink in the blade or broken handle. . the steel is soft enough to file but suitably springy. if you have an angle grinder with a zip disc that's an easy way to cut them down to the size and shape you want. You can also make scrapers to match the profile of any molding by carefully trimming the metal with a small cutting disc on a dremil. Heavier ones are good for scraping and removing bigger curls of wood or paint, and thinner ones are good for finishing work. you can take the finish off a table without using stripper and without marking up the surface for example.

lee valley also sells the file holder, that's handy to keep it sharp as you use it but really all you need to do is clamp the blade in a vice and file it a bit to sharpen it. They also have a burnishing tool. it works but again you don't need it. you can burnish it with anything hard like a the shank of a screwdriver will do. burnishing rolls the edge to develop a hook and that helps it remove more material with less effort.

lots of people don't know how to use a cabinet scraper and there is a bit of a learning curve but it's such a handy and universal tool and so cheap to make. we should all have one at least

[JacquieJet]

Good tip! Thanks!

[heartwood]

may I suggest this scraper and it's assortment of blades...solid carbide blades can be sharpened hundreds of times...great tool!
http://www.tools-plus.com/bahco-625.html
http://www.tools-plus.com/bahco-625-drop.html
http://www.tools-plus.com/bahco-625-pear.html
http://www.tools-plus.com/bahco-625-round.html

great sharpening tool here:
https://www.rei.com/product/859778/smit ... ng-stone-4

good luck...you've got a lot of work ahead but so worth it!

...jade

[JacquieJet]

Thanks so much, Jade!

[Sinoed]

I stripped and refinished my exterior porch railing which had square pickets like yours. Unfortunately, there wasn't much room for stripping the pickets and it was next to impossible without taking it apart. I stripped the handrail and lower rail, stained them back to original and sanded down the pickets (to take off the rough areas). Once I had them sanded I was able to put a fresh coat of white paint to complement the dark handrails which looked great.

To do the pickets, I found a precision needle style sander which are only made by Black & Decker or Makita as far as I know. The Makita version is $300, the Black & Decker one is $50. Sanding belts to fit this B&D unit are impossible to find but it works really well. Just have to be careful with it, the coarse paper that comes in the box is pretty aggressive and can take off a LOT of paint in a hurry.

With the fine grit paper this could help with your stairs without taking them apart - https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B005KR ... HHM8K6KW45

[phil]

oops it double posted - sorry