Sawdust on the Floor

The last and final portion of our stairway upgrade was to build the newel post.  The construction of the newel post actually began as part the of installation of the spindles and railing  The bottom or first piece of oak that was installed with the spindles, is also the first piece of the newel post buildup. The rest of the newel post will now be built by adding components starting with this piece of 4/4 oak.  The first additional piece installed was a  pressure treated 4 by 4. 

When I purchased this 4×4 from the local DIY center, I think I went through half of the stack of available lumber until I found one that wasn’t warped, twisted, cupped or totally wet. Some of the 4×4’s that were wet, were actually very straight but I was concerned that when they dried they could warp or twist, so these were left in the store.  This 4 x4 was bolted both to the floor and then to the existing 4/4 oak board.   Even though the 4×4 was pressure treated, I didn’t want to take any chance of the 4×4 being damaged by any moisture in the floor.  So I used hardware that is designed for mounting 4×4’s used on exterior decks. This hardware is comprised of two pieces of galvanized metal.  The first piece is bolted directly to the floor, the second piece which sets inside the first piece holds the 4×4 off the floor by about a ½”.  This keeps the post from coming into direct contact with the concrete.   I began the installation of the first part by drilling into the concrete floor with a 5/8” masonry drill bit. When the holes were deep enough, I vacuumed out the holes and then installed metal anchors.  Then using 2 ea. 3”x ½” lag bolts inserted through the first plate and then into the metal anchors, I attached the first plate to the concrete.  The second part was then installed over this first plate.  Then the 4×4 was put into place atop this hardware, the 4×4 was then bolted through the side of the hardware, using 3″ long decking screws.   This secured the bottom of the 4×4 to the floor.  Then using several 2” long sheet rock screws the 4×4 was bolted the existing vertical 4/4 oak board.  These screws were all kept to the edges of the 4/4 oak.  These would later be covered by additional pieces of trim. As the 4×4 was installed and later as it was attached to the existing 4/4 oak board, I constantly checked to ensure that both boards remained true and plumb.  I used my largest digital level for this purpose.  Just for the sake of interest, I also checked the alignment with a sprite level, and was amazed at how much of a difference I could see using the digital level. Seeing  that the bubble of a sprite level is “centered”, can actually be off by several degrees depending on your interpretation of centered, or how good your eye sight really is.

The next step was to add another piece of 4/4 oak.  This piece was installed on the opposite edge of the 4×4.  It was secured to the 4×4 by more of the 2” sheet rock screws, in the same manner in which the first piece was attached. I should note that all of these screws holes were pre drilled and counter sunk.  The sheet rock screws were all pre lubricated with screw lube before I installed then.  Even though I had taken the time to ensure that the 4×4 was totally plumb, I verified that this second piece of 4/4 oak was also plumb.  As I attached the screws into the second board, I noticed a little bowing in this board.  This was caused by a defect in 4×4 that I hadn’t noticed before this.  To correct this problem, I added shims as required to make sure that second board remained true and plumb. I continued to check the board as I  inserted and tightened the screws.  Any error here would be disastrous later.

With the front and back of the 4×4 now encased in 4/4 oak, it was time to cover the left and right sides of the 4×4.  Pieces of oak were cut to the same lengths as the first and second boards.  But these pieces were cut wide enough to not only cover the 4×4, but also the edges of the first and second boards.  These boards were screwed not only to the 4×4, but also into the exposed edges of the first and second board. Now the 4×4 post was totally encased with the 4/4 oak boards.

Now it was time to start the buildup of the newel post.  Starting at the base of the newel post I started adding the first of several trim pieces of oak to create the newel post.  As shown in the close up here, the first piece of build up is installed from the floor to the intersection of where the trim for the   spindle assembly meets its vertical trim piece.  The end that meets the vertical trim is cut flush, while the opposite end is cut to a 45 degree angle.  The shoe molding shown here in the picture wasn’t added until the hardwood floor was installed.  More on that later.    On the opposite side of the newel post an identical piece was installed.  On the end of the newel post,( left edge not shown here) a third piece of build up was installed.  This piece was mitered on both ends.  After dry fitting all three pieces, they were attached using glue and 2″ finish nails shot from my pneumatic nail gun.  To keep the miters tight, I applied glue to the joints and then clamped them tight with spring Clamps.  These clamps remained in place for at least 24 hours, to ensure that the glue had totally sat up.

The next step was to create the molding that was installed above these first three boards.  Again please look at the close up picture. The molding directly above it is actually a two part molding.  The bottom portion is simply some 1/2″ oak cove molding that I purchased at the DIY home center. As seen here the left end was mitered to a 45 degree angle, while the right end was cut to the 42° angle of the stair case.  The piece on the opposing side of the post was cut in the same manner, the miter and 42° cuts were just done on the opposite ends of the cove molding.  The end piece was cut with miters on both ends. The upper portion of this molding build up was created on my shaper with a molding bit.  This molding profile is used in several other parts of the staircase, so when I cut it, I made several extra pieces. 

One thing I learned  or maybe I should say finally figured out, is that there are two ways to cut profiles into molding.  The smart way and the not so smart way.  Molding is typically made from long lengths of wood, typically 8 plus feet long.  Before the profile is cut into the wood, the stock normally will not measure more then  3/4″ in both height and width.  Feeding this stock through  or across your shaper or router table while keeping the stock tight to the base of the shaper and the cutter is extremely difficult.  Even using feather boards and hold downs, the stock will flex as you move it pass the cutter head.  The result is that you will end up with nicks along the length of the stock every time that the stock flexed up/down or away for the cutter.  This is the good news, your stock can also shatter and break up when the stock flexes.  A more reliable method is to cut your molding from much wider stock.  I learned to cut the molding using pieces of oak that were up to 4″ wide and 3/4″ thick. The 4″ width comes from the widest stock I can true up on my jointer.  The process is to cut the profile in both edges of the wider stock.  Once the profile is cut, I trim it back to the desired width and thickness on the tablesaw.   One additional note, depending on the profile you cut in the edge of the wood, you might want to consider flipping the board over before cutting the profile in the opposite edge of the stock. The leading edge of the profile may provide you with a smaller contact point then you would gain if you flipped the board over.

With several lengths of this molding cut, I went back to the miter saw where I cut 42° angles in one of the ends of the front and back pieces and a miter on the other ends. For the ends of this molding I cut miters in both ends.  To ensure the accuracy of my angles, I constantly checked the angles of the stair case with a digital protractor and then transferred those angles to the miter saw.  Once I was happy with the cut and fit of all six of these pieces, I took all of them back to the newel post where I installed them using glue and smaller finish nails from a pneumatic nail gun.  Once again I used spring clamps to keep the miters tight while the glue sat up. As I installed these pieces I verified that not only were the miters tight, but the pieces of molding were installed level and true.

Because the rest of the newel post build up, will be built upon these pieces I decided to stop work here and let everything totally set up before proceeding.  I had spent too much time so far on this project to rush it now.  Besides all of those trips back and forth between the house and the staircase are starting to add up. So it’s time to clean up the mess I have made of the house and put the tools away for now.  Hope to see you next time.

For more information on or to purchase any of the products discussed in this post, please click on the highlighted links and images in the post.

Related posts:

1. Woodworking projects: Installing the Staircase Spindles