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November, 2024

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How do you build a wooden rail?

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blazer258
Posts: 1102 - Karma: 655
I search barred and nothing came up and looked through the cult but didn't find anything, sorry if this is a re post but i'm not sure what the secret is to getting the perfect wooden rail.

I have already cut down a 18 foot long tree and chopped off all the limbs from it. Should I debark it and sand the top so its smooth? Or do I debark it and leave it be. I tried to make one last year but after a week the tree dried out and was super sticky; there was no way I was going to be able to slide it. Is there a type of wax you can put on it to make it slide better? Any information on this would be helpful to me.

Here's a link to a snowboard video with a bunch of wood rails in it in case anybody doesn't know what i'm talking about... just skip through it till you find them





Aug 4 2013 4:19PM
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Poikenz
Posts: 1486 - Karma: 3,825
just de-bark it and sand, from what I have heard people harden them with a torch or those propane flame-thrower type things. Not really sure how the process goes, I believe you move the flame back and forth quickly over the log for a good amount of time until it starts to blacken just ever so slightly then give the black spots a quick sand down and it should be rock solid. I guess you could varnish it after if you were worried about rotting but I think it might make the rail more sticky in doing so.

The process is called fire hardening, I imagine you could do better than me with a google search to figure out how to do it properly.
Aug 7 2013 8:21PM
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