寂静回声 发表于 5 天前

SOLIDWORKS for Makers and Our Next Make: Recreating a Historic Stair Railing

John Sweeney, from the SOLIDWORKS R&D team, and his wife Ann-Marie have spent decades restoring their historic home in coastal New England. Over the years, they’ve made regular trips to a local architectural salvage store, collecting everything from hooks and handles to newel posts used in earlier stairway renovations.

During one of their visits to the shop, they found a red railing tucked away that they both loved. They worked to restore it, raise the height, and installed two sections of the antique railing along the top of their staircase. However, they also needed a handrail to cover the 14-foot stretch of stairs. They decided to have a custom handrail made to match the antique profile. When John picked up the order, he discovered that the handrail fittings, curved returns, and other essential pieces were missing. Ordering these items separately would have tripled the cost, so he began shaping them by hand, which significantly slowed the project’s progress.

The turning point came when John’s wife, Ann-Marie, attended a family open house at the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab at Dassault Systèmes’ Waltham campus, one of over 1,000 maker spaces established by the Fab Foundation in collaboration with MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. During her visit, Ann-Marie saw the range of tools and machines available and asked a simple question: could they 3D print the fittings instead?

That idea kicked off a new phase in the project. What started as a casual design conversation with Sal and Chinloo Lama at the open house gradually turned into a collaborative project. Chinloo and Sal are mechanical engineers and longtime members of the SOLIDWORKS R&D team. They have both spent a lot of time in the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, collaborating on projects, prototyping tools, and testing them through hands-on design thinking. Through their YouTube Channel, Our Next Make, and Partners in Making series, Chinloo and Sal collaborate with other makers, whether beginners or experts, helping them overcome any challenges that could delay their project’s progress.
The first step in working on the handrail was to scan the original piece to create a precise digital model. While the scan provided a good reference, it wasn’t ideal for the fine-tuning that the project ultimately needed. Instead, they took a more hands-on approach. They traced the shape of the original railing, modeled it in CAD, and 3D-printed test pieces to refine the profile. After a few iterations, they had a design they were happy with.
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Machining the railing was the next challenge. Because the piece had detailed curves on multiple sides, it required a two-step machining process. First, they clamped it down and machined one side. Then, they flipped it over, re-clamped it, and machined the other. Everything needed to align perfectly for a smooth result. The biggest challenge didn’t end up being the machining; they discovered that the newly purchased handrail John bought was not symmetrical. One end was slightly smaller than the other. Luckily, they caught this issue by using a series of 3D-printed samples to test slight profile variations, bringing each one back and forth to compare until the fit was right.

They chose poplar for the handrail due to its clean grain and strength, but also discussed the merits of clear pine, which is suitable for painted finishes because of its clean surface and minimal grain rise.

Even with modern CNC tools, some details still require finishing by hand. The curved returns, the 90-degree transitions at the ends of the handrail, were particularly tricky. Standard cutting tools were unable to shape them correctly, so the final shaping had to be done manually. Sometimes, traditional woodworking techniques remain the most effective way to achieve the details accurately.
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Most people don’t think twice about the details built into everyday design, but a lot of thought goes into making things both functional and safe. Stair railings are a great example. At first glance, they might seem like decorative elements or simple handholds, but the way they curve, start, and end is intentional. One of those subtle but important details in a stair railing is the upeasing. Upeasings and overeasings create a smooth transition at the start and end of the railing, guiding a person’s hand naturally as they move along the stairs. For someone visually impaired or navigating in low light, a rail easing provides notice that they are approaching a transition point – the first or last step, reducing the risk of missteps. In addition to safety, easings contribute to comfort and aesthetics.
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Once the pieces were ready, installation brought its own challenges. The curved sections had to align perfectly, and the hardware needed to be positioned at just the right angles to pull everything together securely. There was some trial and error in placing the holes correctly, so that the railing sat naturally without forcing any of the joints. Fortunately, the hardware had just enough tolerance to allow for small adjustments, making it possible to fine-tune the fit as they went.

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