The 2x4's I get from Home Depot curve on their own.

I agree with the previous reviewer. Not only are you a craftsman, but you're an excellent videographer. No fluff, no amateur distracting music, and no wasted time on my part. Well thought out and produced!

Curves , so labor intensive . Had a architect that I used to a lot of work for that loved them , 6 or 7 different radius's per job . It was both challenging and rewarding but mostly time consuming . Instead of string I used to use a thin strip of wood with a nail punched through both ends , only for the fact you get zero deflection in your arc . Great video .

Very nice curved railing! There is nothing you did that was wrong because you tried it and made it work! That's what DIY is all about and your video proves it can be done! Thanks for sharing.

It's sad how little respect there is everyday while out and about and seeing architecture. We just pass it by as if it just appeared there! I'm impressed by what you created...

Elevator music is much better than space alien music any day. Thinner strips is the way to go. Cutting the ends is the real challenge. Nice work.

I just learned sin cosine tan on youtube now I wrote down that formula. I came up with 84.748 so yes 84.75 is it. Who ever figured out that formula is amazing. I love woodworking and math.

That's just what I need!!! What a great idea and I feel like a dummy for not thinking of it. Then again I do cabinetry so this type of thing never comes up. Thanks for the video! Now I can do the curved path railing I've been wanting..:)

there is a way to compensate for your spring back. There is a comprehensive article in Coffmans stair building guide (I think volume 2). Baiscally, your center L bracket on your jig is screwed right on your line as you did. Then, for every L bracket thereafter (in both directions) is set 1/16th of a inch away from your line, but... (this is hard for me to explain but bear with me)... so, the first one after your center L bracket is a sixteenth away from the line, the next would be a eight inch away from the line, then the 3rd L bracket would be 3/16th inch away from the line....and so on until your all out of L brackets. You do this on both the left and right side of your jig, and once that baby spring backs its gonna be pretty much spot on. So, you know its gonna spring back, so make it a wee bit tighter of a radius and when it does, youll be golden ponyboy. other than that, you did an amazing job and great video. And im not saying all this to be big headed and act all smart but as a wise man told me one time, iron sharpens iron. keep on keeping on buddy. Hope u can make sense of my rambling, im not exactly a english major, just a carpenter.

Nice job! Appreciate your clear, concise and honest explanation of the steps.. can't wait to try it!

Impressive and easy to follow for a home handy guy. I liked that the 'lessons learned' was at the end to help the next guy. Thank you.

A very thoughtfully produced video; thank you.

This is pretty much what I did to make a large diameter curtain rail for my mother's bedroom. I didn't feel like making a steam box for one project, so I bent several thin strips and glued them together. . . Came out really nice! She was happy. You don't need to screw the pieces together. As long as it's clamped tight, it will hold its shape once its dry.

genius! Never thought of this one. I plan on making a railing on my conversion van and thanks to you I know how I'm going to do it!

Great video Steve and I love that you referenced Red Green at the end. He is my Hero. LOL

Fascinating! I was so confused until the very end, and I was like ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh now I get it. Thanks!

You can avoid some of those gaps with screw type clamps. The quick grip versions do not apply enough pressure to get a great glue-up. Using the alternative clamps will increase the strength and reduce entropy via moisture. Also, spread that glue out.

just came across this video.Really good.As a retired joiner I've used this method quite a few time's and pretty much did exactly as you but with some modifications. To alleviate spring back,once the radius was established, I made the end L brkts inside the radius line by 1.5 inches so when it did spring back it finished almost exactly on the true radius line.Instead of butt joining the strips I cut the ends at 45° so I only had to fix one strip at the end and the next one wedged itself into the angle.This also Save's clamping it.Also used to run all the strips through the thicknesser to make the mating surfaces smooth. This way there's less filling when finished and exact dimensions can be kept to if specified. Just some thoughts.

Great video! You may already have this, but this formula calculates the amount of spring back. The trick will be figuring out how to adjust the form to compensate. Trial and error I guess. Y=X/N² Y = Spring Back X = Inside Arc Height (your measurement of 15-1/4") N = # of Layers (5 - not counting profile pieces) So your spring back should be around 5/8" from center.

Your video is one of the best ones I've seen, especially the background sound effects. Spreading the glue out might help. What I really like is there is hope for a fancy railing for my new cabin without having to use the steam bent process. Thank you for sharing.

When building railings like this you can use strips that are vertically thinner in the centre of the rail. You keep the top flush when you fab it up. This will form a channel on the bottom side to take the balusters on the bottom negating any need to cut mortises. You cut small spacers on a band saw or use a jig saw and fit them between the balusters for looks and strength. In addition, the thinner strips will have less spring back keeping you railing truer to the proper radius.

Don't listen to one negative word. I've built many homes. I have every tool known to man. I know construction. You did a great job both in building the rail and in the construction of your video. Be proud my brother! RS

I never stop learning. Everyone has something to show and do.

Some final notes: That was pretty spectacular! Totally impressed!

I like the methods and ideas you showed here. Very useful. I think I would make my arc a little exaggerated to compensate for spring back and I would roll the glue on both sides of each joint to ensure 100% glue coverage. Nice job.

Great video. I found it very informative but not excessively talkative. You create a good product and I am sure your customers appreciate your work.

So glad I found your channel!! This is some great information that I'm looking forward to applying in one of my next projects.

Stephen, Thank you!...Now that I'm forced to be home for the long hall- from the looks of it! I finally have the time to make my indoor wood stand for my chair hammock 😁!!!.. THANKS TO YOU!..Your talented, handsome "incase your wife didn't say that" LOL...and have some amaz skills! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT "Wow, not only is he a talented carpenter, but dude, he can also create some great video! Dam! I'm impressed!!... All seriousness, I truly appreciate you sharing your talents & techniques!

This is a great video. Very clear and easy to understand. Thank you very much for making it!

Nice work. A lot of thought and work went into making this.

I have been watching video after video, on working with rounded projects, and this is by far one of the best for multiple reasons. First the technique is impressive. Second your improvisation and explanations are a tremendous help to "do it yourself" people. Thank you for the quality of your video.

TY for this great video, I am building sometching now that needs curved beams for the ceiling and wasn’t sure how I should make these. This was by far the best lesson I found on YT. Great work!

Altho I've done this before, its been many years. This video gave me some pointers that'll help with my up coming project. Thx for the tutorial. Excellent job.

The easiest way I've found for finding the radius of an arc. Draw a line that intersects the arc at 2 points, then mark the center point of that line (between the two intersections). Then square a line from that center point, this line points to your radius point. Now you run a tape measure along that line. Then you take another tape measure from any other point on the arc crossing the first tape. Where the measurements match up is your radius. Hope that makes sense and helps somebody, great vid.

This is a perfect video.. You are really good at explaining the process without giving excessive info. I enjoyed it and you are obviously very good at what you do. Loved it.

Dear Sir, I must salute you for three simple reasons: your craftsmanship, the educational content of your video and taking the time and effort to share. Many thanx and all the best in your career!

I liked your special effects. This is a brilliant way to make a handrail.

I was expecting this to end up looking rougher - but it actually turned out really nice. Great tip!

Excellent job, both craftsmanship and presentation. Good editing, too. Thanks.

Actually, I enjoyed the James Bond elevator music. Thanks for the radius formula. I knew I'd have to look it up sometime. Great presentation and darned good editing.

what a great video, it's videos like this that inspire me to make more how to videos.

Hi Steve, thanks for the video. I’m making a Japanese bridge for the garden in my rental and now know how to make the curved rails! Thanks!

Watched some old-time carpenters in Toronto make curved crown moulding. That's the toughest because of the the angle. They took two pieces of the 16' stock crown and took a table saw thick blade-width off of the first one. Then they ripped them down to blade-width. Alternating back and forth, one crown filled in the gaps from ripping the other down. It came out the jig very smooth and accurate. Joined up the profile perfectly with the straight pieces. It was impressive.

This is great. I've used this method before with 3/4"x 6" cedar to create a curved beam for a bridge. Worked great! One thing I would suggest to folks is to always mark on the side of your strips where you placed the screws so you don't screw into a screwhead with subsequent strips. Great job!

I completly forgot about this method. Im building a bmx rv and going off grid/homeless. And this technique will be perfect for all the curves required to create reinforcement. Thank you kindly liked and subd.

Great video that is true craftsmanship! And it looked like one solid piece!

Thank you, I'll do this someday at work, glad to see you show it

Love the red green reference at the end of the video. Thanks for the knowledge its much needed.

Good video. Looks great. Thanks for the tip. Mike

Great video! Everything is explained clearly and simply. I should have used this method for my curved deck.

Thanks for sharing this tutorial! Very nice job! all the best from Brazil!!! Marcos

that was a nice DIY home job, thank you for showing this! nice job. I have been looking for this type of procedure is curved rails!

Great stuff! I'm going to do this tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks!

Thanks for de-mystifying curve building. BTW, yours is the only YT video I have seen that has a commercial inserted in a convenient spot.

Awesome work. Helped me work with a sailing boat railing!

I wish I had seen this several years back when I needed it. Next time!

Beautiful job....I wish I had a porch that needed a railing like yours. Thanks so much for sharing - you are an excellent instructor. I only wish you had included a completed picture!

Just saw your vid, and I must say nice! very creative and, as you stated, when steaming isn't an option. It actually looked like one piece. Thanks for the lesson.

I'm literally walking towards my workshop to try this out, thanks!

Great video and I love the method you used...no water...no steam or other magic. Nice work.

well done.. glad to find you and this method, great way for a beginning carpenter like me with a full shop to really take advantage of everything and create some interesting things... not a content provider and don't think I will be but love love love learning concepts so I can apply them to my business!

Thanks Stephen, very excellent video. Here's a little tip. 15:02 If you make the radius of your jig an inch or two undersized "Shorter", your rail will then spring back closer to the exact radius you're shooting for.

your video editing skills are entertaining, with your sound effects and all ;)

Thank you for a really useful video - I can use this process for many other types of joinery projects.

Hey - great video! Great job talking through a simple process with awesome results. Thumbs up and subscribed!

Steve! Thank you so much for the video! Really appreciate the math layout too, you made it super easy! I have a couple of 2x4 fence rails done in the 50’s that are on their last days. And I’ve been racking my brain on how to do it. 👍🏻👍🏻

That looks absolutely great.A tip to compensate springage- tighten arc approx. what you think will lose

Excellent presentation Stephen - All the best from us in Scotland

Bevel cut the pieces at the Inside joints will also take away some of the spring back you are getting, use a 60 to 70 degree cut and 3/4 brads at an angle to pull them tight. One or both might just solve any spring back at all. Nice how to DIY rail video I bet it helps a lot of peeps.

Really enjoyed this video. I'm an small time independent carpenter / everything. I would suggest you could try cutting and angle at the ends of the joined strips and start at those joints to mate them tightly as you would for joining trim mold that exceeds the normal lengths of stock. I constantly find myself having to figure out methods to do seemingly impossible repairs on older homes. It always work's out but often the time I invest in the process means I'm almost working for free. Or I'm laying in bed at 3 a.m. trying to work out a solution for a problem I must solve the next day. I need a good camera so I can start doing some videos of my own projects. Thank you and I will be watching maybe I will be able to sleep when I know I've seen a method, perhaps one of yours will work for me.

Wow so many great tips.Thanks for taking the time to share this was great .

I remember seeing this video a long time ago. I was blown away w/radius formula. Since then I have learned the "Intersecting Chords Theorem". Somehow this video got recommended to me again, so I wanted to know if I could use that chord theorem. Sure nuff, it works. The only problem I have is, trying to understand how this video has 1.5 million views, but only 9.4 thousand likes.

Nice one, Stephen. I particularly liked the text at the end that forestalled any comments on your methodology I might have made...This process (with the right clamps, wood thickness, etc.), is a perfect way to add interest to a thin strip laminated table top. Thanks for sharing, I'm heading off to Sketchup for the layout and maths, and after that, to my woodpile to see if I have enough quarter sawn for the job. Greetings from South Africa.

I saw this video a few years ago , and liked it so I had to revisit your work video which i liked very much . , i love to see how people make things happen , and you made it happen ,thanks for letting a person like myself pick up a few pointers . I like what and how you did what you did. Thanks"

This is truly remarkable. I wish I knew this a year or two ago when I did my deck. Thanks for a great demonstration.

Simple. Nice. Thanks for the demo.

This is going to be so useful. thanks for the formula!

Great build! Thanks looks awesome!

Thanks for sharing formula for radius of this curve. We use it so much but without a formula ,,just by trying again and again . thanks again

I've seen some hand railings that were curved and wondered how they go thick pieces of wood to bend. Likely the way you did. Never really thought about how it could be done. Oops, now I'm thinking of a new project. lol. Probably never get around to some my ideas, but if I can do a few, I'd be happy with that. Nice work and video. The elevator music didn't bother me. I rather liked it.

You had me at the end with the Red Green quote!

This was fun to watch! I love the quote at the end, Red Green is the man!

Very nice work. I wish more clients in my area would ask for a bid on work like this.

11:50 Take the time to find 16 or even 15 gauge nails, they are thicker and are much easier to remove if necessary. the 18 gauge are like skinny pins and when you grab them to pull them out they just snap.YES PEOPLE... LOWER NUMBER MEANS THICKER NAILS. I only use 18 gauge for very delicate projects. Another tip is to shoot the nails at an angle inward from the end of the board so they hold better. 14:51 I would use a hand planer (Powered of course) or a belt sander Dunno how well the curve would go through a regular planer. I really enjoy watching videos like this where you're not just guessing while making a video of your project. Thumbs up #1463

Great job brother. Thank you for the technique!

Great job! Love the Red Green quote!

Liked the Red Green quote on the end. Was a favorite show of mine once upon a time. Liked the rest of the video too.

Nice work and thanks for sharing. Like others have mentioned, I too would have enjoyed seeing the final product.

Great job. Thanks for this excellent instructional video. Exactly what I need for one of my next projects.

Beautiful house and beautiful job!

Great vid . Always handy to keep in mind

Just stumbled across this video, and I gotta say, I never would've thought of this method, but it's genius. Also, very nice use of a Red Green quote. :)

Wow, (and thank you.) Really enjoyed watching this and your simply stated, personable approach. Looking forward to more of your videos..I am currently trying to figure out how to do a descending handrail in oak for our (very simple) interior staircase. Google search engine popped up all sorts of videos where ROBOTS do them...Yours was't exactly what I was looking for but was such a relief for us humans...rr

Good man Stephen. Great video and calm even delivery

I would have loved to see your final shot of it after paint. But thank you so much for this. Excellent

Nice job! Straight forward and simple 👍 ignore the negative comments and thumbs down appreciate your time and energy.

I have done a couple Window Casing/Millwork this way. Good job

Thank you for a helpful video. I haven't read all the comments, apologize if this is repeated- good quality construction adhesive between each strip couldn't hurt.

That took some time. I hope someone appreciates your talents you are a doer not a follower. Great work.....

This is very helpful! Thank you for sharing!