Railing inserts

[wegner81]

I am looking for an idea on a material that I can make this out of for a deck application. These are made of powder coated steel.It would have to hold up to the sun and weather. I am thinking about offering them to my customers also, as I live close to a resort area . Thanks for any help.
8533

[thewoodcrafter]

Steel from a CNC plasma cutter would be cheap.
Plexi glass is all I can think of.

[jamesgilliam]

Dibond may work for this. I use it to back my large signs and it holds up well.

[jerry_stanek]

Look into scooter board that may work. I work with a deck product called Fiberon that has an acrylic insert that fits into a channel to hold it in place. The only thing is that it is clear but I have cut it on my bot and it cuts very easy.

[drodda]

I think you should stick with steel as almost anything else would be fragile and you would take a risk of something breaking and a small child falling through the hole left behind. You could get these cut fairly reasonable if you already have the cutting file made up by someone with a plasma and then get them powder coated.

Some things are better left to the proper equipment. Shopbot owners seem to feel they can do everything, Me included, however reality sometimes makes us think otherwise.

-D

[mitch_prest]

I do believe that most building codes have a minimum force that the railing and assembly must withstand... you might want to look into that before you go making a bunch out of something other than steel

mitch

[Gary Campbell]

Kevin...
There are 3 things that come to mind looking at the picture above.

The first is the minumum force requirement at Mitch mentions. All code juridictions are not the same, but 50# laterally applied to any point may be an average. Depends on your jurisdiction.

The second is the 4" sphere rule, stating that the ballustrade must be constructed so that a sphere of 4" cannot pass thru.

The third is the ladder rule, stating that bars or other ornamental effects that could allow someone to use as a ladder are not allowed. The raised ground, deer backs and branches all qualify as "ladders". When doing similar designs in the past, the use of a clear sheet to the inside of the ornamental work has appeased inspectors.

The liability of constructing a non complying guard rail system is huge. There are few cases that any slack has been given to the unknowing. Do your homework. It will be worth it.
Gary

[jseiler]

solid lexan and vinyl?

[wegner81]

Thanks for all the advice. The 4" rule I was aware of, but the thing that I would worry about is all the sharp edges. The idea of maybe putting plexy behind might solve this problem. I am not familar with the two products that were mentioned but will do some research with my supplier. Thanks again for all the help. Kevin

[myxpykalix]

kevin,
if you wanted to get fancy you might get someone to paint some clouds or hills in the background on the plexiglass.