Mahogany Curved Hand Rail

This is a shaped handrail which serpentines around an elliptical landing and down and elliptical stairway. My head still spins when I recall the math involved getting this just right. The long runs were shaped with machines and routers, but the turnout at the bottom was all done by hand and a keen eye. To further complicate the process, the finish on it is a multi-stepped process which needed to be done in place after all the joinery was completed and faired. We did all that on temporary spindles and then enlisted the help of all the carpenters on site to lift it up in one piece and set it back down on over 150 spindles. The contractor on this project was Birdseye Building Company of Richmond, Vermont.