Modified Newel Post

Two tasks today needed Dad's help. First was a vertical clearance hole in the bottom of the landing newel posts. The fixing bolts for these have a screw thread at one end, for screwing down through the floorboards into the landing joists, and a bolt thread at the other end which slides into the newel and is locked in place by a nut and washer. The clearance hole for this needs to be centred, and vertical, so Dad's drilling machine was utilised :

The result :
The second task was a little more involved. You will have read in a previous post, our switch from the straight to continuous handrail system on the stairs and landing. Unfortunately the suppliers of the turned newel posts for the continuous system only sell one size. At the top of our winder staircase, we need a short version.

The answer is to take one of the standard turned newels and cut a section out :

The top cap is put in Dad's lathe and drilled to take a peg :

Then the peg is created on the end of the bottom section :

The two parts were glued up and clamped overnight in the lathe :

Next morning, Dad turned down the shank to get rid of the step at the join. Now the join is hardly visible :

Here is the short version compared with an original :

Nice job. Thanks Dad.