This crown cap handrail was left unpainted so that the grain and beauty of the wood can be seen, with this in mind I took my time selecting the wood for a clean straight grain without any knots.
The sweep from the bottom of the stairs to the top is unbroken therefore there are no breaks in the handrail on the corner or where the pitch changes. This is important for less mobile people who need the reassurance of something to get hold of for support whilst going down or up the stairs.
The wall that the handrail is fitted to is a stud wall, made up of plasterboard tacked to a timber frame so in effect a hollow wall. I used a specialist fixing to fix the brackets one which ‘balloons’ out behind the plasterboard and into the cavity. All in all a neat and tidy job.
Crown Cap is not used so much these days I have only one supplier who stocks it, and only in soft wood. I do have cutters to machine crown cap myself although such a small run would not warrant the time it would take. I think crown cap is easier to use as a handrail particularly if ones grip is not what it used to be. Also it can be screwed directly to the wall rather that hung on brackets, that’s useful if you are restricted on space.
Hampshire Joinery 