It is that time of year again when our attention turns to the outdoors and the curb appeal of our homes. One easy way to give your front porch a quick face lift is to add or replace an outdoor stair rail.
A few things to keep in mind, along with design, have to do with observing city and county codes.
Residential properties generally have to have at least one handrail along a flight of stairs. The height of the handrail should be mounted somewhere between 34″ and 38″ above all of the stair nosing.
The grip-able area of the handrail should measure between 1 1/4″ and 2 1/4″.
If the handrail is to be hung along an existing wall, like the example in the photos, a 1 1/2″ clearance between any projection in the wall and the handrail should be observed. Sometimes this gets a bit tricky if the wall has an uneven surface like stone.

Tom built this handrail to fit a new home. The handrail needed to bolt to a stone faced wall at the top and also bolt to a stone faced concrete planter at the bottom of the stairs. Tom used a lag screw that fit into the metal railing bracket and sunk it through the stone and wall behind. The bottom bracket was fastened using a concrete anchor through the stone into the concrete planter underneath. Tom used 1 1/2″ .109 wall E.W. round tubing bent using a Shop Outfitters Universal Fabricator.

Metal Table Frame

After welding in two cross pieces onto the metal table frame, to help support the table, it was time to build the table top. Tom used 12 gauge hot rolled sheet metal for the main table top. A scrap piece of tread bright aluminum was used as a template to radius each corner. Even arches were created by using the template and marking the steel using a silver colored sharpie. Tom then trimmed the steel using a plasma cutter along the sharpie lines. An angle grinder was used to feather in the corners with the straight edges.
In order to create round edges for the metal table, Tom rolled a metal ring out of flat strap using a Shop Outfitters ring roller. Then he cut the ring in quarters and matched up each piece. The straight flat 3/16″ X 1/2″ hot rolled strap edges were measured to fit and then cut using an Edwards Iron Worker. The corner and straight strap metal was then tack welded onto the sheet metal. The edges were then ground down to blend to form a smooth finish.
Tom finished the metal table by adding rounded support straps that were fabricated using a Shop Outfitters ring roller. Square tube was welded on to help hold an umbrella for the metal table.
A vinegar bath was applied to strip off the mill scale from the metal table. Looking back, it would have been better to start with a pickled and oiled stock.
A quick paint job using water based industrial paint for the base and min-wax poly-shade stain with polyurethane for the top, and the large metal table was complete. After a 24 hour drying period we were ready to move the table into the backyard.
Now, there was only one thing left to do. We invited a few friends over to help break in our new metal table.

A ring roller is a great tool for metal shops. A ring roller works by forcing steel material through three rollers also called dies. The three rollers are set in the machine in a triangular fashion. The two bottom rollers can be adjusted up into the top roller or drive roller to achieve various degrees of arches. The metal is wheeled through a ring roller until the desired radius is formed.
The drive roller pushes and pulls steel through simultaneously so that the steel has no where to go and thus forms a metal arch. If the ring roller operator moves the two bottom rollers or dies up, it changes the size of the ring. The rollers or dies are moved using a small hydraulic jack and lock screw on the ring roller. The operator unhooks the lock screw and pumps up the hydraulic jack and then tightens the lock screw once the desired span is achieved.
Standard dies that come with a ring roller usually handle flat strap metal. The roller Tom uses is the Shop Outfitters #238 Ring Roller. This is the discontinued Shop Outfitters Ring Roller and has been replaced by their newer and improved model, the 338 Pedestal Ring Roller. Shop Outfitters newest ring roller is able to accept wider steel, 3″ X 3/8″ steel rather then 2″ X 3/8″ of the previous model. The 338 Pedestal Ring Roller also has an aluminum handle and a heavier hydraulic jack. The 338 Pedestal Ring Roller also is able to roll square tubing. The square tubing dies are purchased separately. Special recesses in the dies allow for either tubing, round stock or square tubing.
A Ring Roller is an essential tool for many metal shops. Tom has used his ring roller to build items such as custom spinning pot holders, decorative metal tables and large wood racks.

Our friends from Summit Structures asked Tom to fabricate this custom metal handrail on location at a new house they were building.  The handrail was built on a radius staircase so it took a little more work than usual to acquire the correct bends. 

The first thing Tom did was to set the upright posts in line with the radius wall.  Next, he bent the square tubing in a radius.  Tom used a Shop Outfitters 238 Ring Roller after a slight modification in the ring roller.  He removed a bushing out to allow the steel tubing to fit through.  He also made some different idler rollers for the ring roller as well.  He was then able to roll 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch square tubing through the ring roller.  He had to make several passes through the ring roller with his square tubing in order to get the desired radius on the steel.  He was only able to bend a little at a time.  An application like this is slightly hard on the ring roller, so anyone attempting this sort of use should be sure he has the machine set properly. 

When building a handrail along a curved stairway one trick is worth noting.  When welding in the top and bottom rails to the upright posts a twist needs to be formed into the rails.  When tubing goes up in a radius it should twist to gain the desired effect when tying the handrail into the upright posts.  Tom accomplished the twist by taking each handrail and placing them into a vice.  Using a 48 inch pipe wrench he put a 6 degree twist into the upper and lower rails before attaching them to the posts. 

Next, Tom welded the pickets between each post.  He purchased the pre-twisted metal pickets at Orleans Ornamental Iron.  Pickets were necessary for the metal handrail because building code usually requires that a guardrail be in place if the  stairway has more than a 30 inch drop.  The metal pickets were first cut to the proper angle and then welded by spacing them so that nothing smaller than a 4 inch sphere can fit between them.

Tom fashioned metal ends to finish off the metal handrail.  The decorative ends were designed to tie in the vertical uprights to the radius tubes that go up the staircase.  Tom used a Shop Outfitters 20/20 compact bender using 1.5 by .25 inch flat steel stock.

The last touch was to prep the handrail for paint.  Tom rubbed the handrail down with acetone to remove a lot of the oils in the tubing.  He then scrubbed the handrail down with a soap and water solution with scotch-bright pads. Finally, he painted the project black.

Most of the metal handrail had to be fashioned onsite.

Tom was doing a little window shopping a few years back in Taos New Mexico. As he surveyed some of the shops and art galleries he noticed a theme of “metal art”. Of course, when he returned home he began to think how he could duplicate some of the tables and art work he saw. Some of the metal goods ran into the thousands of dollars if one wanted to purchase.

Here is an example of a few of the pieces he saw:

Tom came back to his shop and built a table to resemble the one he had seen in Taos. The top and center section of Tom’s table are both 1/8″ steel material. He rolled the rings for the top and center section out of 3/16″ steel material. He rolled the rings first and then cut out plate to match the size of the rings. He then welded around the perimeter and sanded the edges off using a belt grinder. He then had the top and bottom “dishes”. The rest of the table is 1/2″ X 1″ steel rectangle tubing. He also ran those pieces through the ring roller to create the arch legs. The most difficult part was lining up the legs to insure a level top. Tom spaced the legs on the outside using a set of dividers to space the legs on the outside of the metal table. On the center section he used dividers to cut the circle up into thirds, kind of like a pie, into three equal parts to measure where the legs would be evenly spaced. He tack welded the pieces together before welding the entire project together.

Final touches included using a DA Sander to polish the steel. Tom stained the table with stain with a polyurithaine base.

Tom used a Shop Outfitters 238 Ring Roller.

Tom often gets requests to build custom metal handrails from both residential builders and commercial companies. His various projects will be posted to this site as they are completed. I thought it might be handy to review a few steps to consider as you begin a handrail fabrication project.

Tom’s years spent as a building inspector for our city comes in handy when tackling projects such as building and installing a custom metal handrail. A handrail is required if there are four or more stairs. Commercial and residential codes differ from there on.

Commercial code requires that the builder must extend the handrail a foot beyond both the top and bottom landings of the stairs. The handrail should continue it’s slop with the stairs in relation to the bottom stair. At the top of the stair landing the handrail should bend and level out so as to parallel the top landing. Both top and bottom handrail should extend at least a foot.

If there is a drop off the side of the stair at any point that is thirty inches or more, a guardrail should be built as well. Commercial code dictates that guardrail should be forty two inches minimum. The guardrails should also be fixed so that the guardrail bars are fixed so that a four inch sphere can not pass through any part of the guardrail. This safety rule prevents kids from putting their heads through the guardrail and having the misfortune of getting stuck. Residential guardrail is measured at a thirty six inch minimum.

The first step in designing and building a handrail is to measure the rise and run of the stairs. This will give you the slope of the stairway. An angle meter can also be used. Tom usually measures the front of the bottom tread and the front of the very last tread, or landing of the top. This gives him a starting point for where the bends on the handrails will be located.

When measuring the rise of the stair note that they are all with in 3/8″ of each other. After measuring a few stairs, take an average of the rise. Tom takes his measurements of the rise and run of the staircase and chalks them out on his shop floor. He then uses that as a pattern to shape the metal handrail.

It is also important to consider the architecture of the house or building when constructing a metal handrail. Square handrail often looks nice, but code likes round handrail because it tends to be more graspable. Code also specifies that handrail should be at least an inch and a quarter in diameter with a maximum of two and a quarter. The height should also be between thirty four and thirty eight inches.

Metal handrail was 1 1/2″ tubing with a wall thickness of .109.  Tubing was fabricated using Shop Outfitter’s Universal Fabricator.  The Universal Fabricator bends up to 1 1/4″ pipe or 1 1/2″ tubing.  Dies are also available for square tubing up to 1 1/2″.

A pot rack is a great project to build with a ring roller.  This pot rack has the added bonus of a spinning feature. Tom began by rolling two rings using a Shop Outfitters Ring Roller. Both metal rings are made out of 2″ X 1/4″ hot rolled iron strap. The larger ring was rolled at about 30 inches in diameter and the smaller ring was rolled at about 12 inches in diameter. The larger ring serves as the main metal ring for the spinning pot rack. The smaller ring was attached to the larger ring by welding several chain links between the two metal rings.
The rotating assembly was made by attaching bearings (with an inside diameter of 5/8) from a wheel barrow wheel into a piece of pipe. Tom then welded a nut on a 4″ X 5″ X 1/4″ steel plate. Then he took a piece of 5/8 all thread and cut it and welded a nut on the end and then ground it off to look like a bolt. Tom left the all thread about an 1/8″ longer than the two inner bearing races. He could then snug the bolt up against the plate to secure it, so it wouldn’t work loose over time. If the bolt is simply placed in and the bearings crushed, the bearings will get ruined.
Tom supported the large ring off of the rotating pipe assembly by attaching 2″ X 1/4″ steel strap. The inside ring was hung by steel chain. The hooks were from an old pot rack and would be hard to find again. The hooks could be easily duplicated by using a Shop Outfitters Compact Bender. Two small hooks could be bent and then welded together back to back at the top.
The entire pot rack can be painted with flat black paint.
This particular spinning pot rack was mounted to a steel beam. Holes were drilled through the sheet rock and into steel beam. Tom then drilled and tapped the steel beam for 5/16ths bolts and then mounted the rack directly into the steel beam.

A metal wood ring is easy to make if you have the correct tools.  This wood rack was made using the Ring Roller from Shop Outfitters.

The Ring Roller Tom used was a 238 Ring Roller.  It is made for a maximum of 2″ wide by 3/8″ steel stock.  First, figure out the desired ring size.  Multiply the desired size by 3.14 (pie) to find the circumference of the ring.  Be sure to add additional flat material.  This material will fit between the side roller and the center drive roller of the Ring Roller.  For minimal stock waste, it is wise to use the inside roller.  It is also advised to add 9 or 10 inches to the overall circle.

The next step is to adjust the Ring Roller to fit steel material through.  Start bending the stock through the roller.  For a large ring only one step may be needed.  Smaller rings may require rolling once and then adjusting the Ring Roller to roll the steel stock again to get a good tight ring.

The metal wood rack pictured above was rolled in two different settings on the Ring Roller.   Roll rings up until the ends of the steel overlap, one end of the ring may be lifted over the top of the drive roller.  This prevents having to pull out the center shaft.  Next, take a vice grip and clamp the flat ends overlapping to the desired size and then put it in a chop saw and clip the ends at once.  If you end up a little crooked on the stock, the ends still line up.  The next step is to weld the ends together to form a ring.  The last step to making the rings is to grind off the welds.

Two rings are needed to make the wood holder. Weld spreader bars on the bottom of the rings to hold the rings apart.   Enhance the holder by adding four horseshoes for legs for the wood rack.

Paint your new wood rack using a flat black paint.  It is sure to give you many seasons of enjoyment.