Stairs Post carpentry help

[MikeC55]

I'm looking for ideas on how to make the best of an issue I ran into while refurbishing the stairway in my house. I decided to go with some fancier posts but neglected to factor in the 90 degree turn at top. The new post is long enough, but I failed to account for the turned section starting lower than the first stair in the 90 degree section. The photos will explain better. The posts were ordered out of a catalog and took 2 months to get here (nor do they offer a customized post), so a return is not in the cards. I'm thinking to cut back the stair in the corner and face it with pine (to match stair riser), but not sure if I should cut it back enough to leave more of gap between finished surface and the post? Ideas welcome...

 

[Worsedog]

I'll preface this week with I'm not a carpenter or a woodworker. Could you do some sort of joinery to lengthen the base of the baluster?

 

[MikeC55]

Not really, The post is the correct overall length, so adding on would create a host of other aesthetic problems. I'll add a photo of the whole post when I get a chance.

 

[Youngandfree]

I'd get new posts honestly. Sell those and start over.

 

[The Cobbler]

Without seeing the entire picture, I m thinking cut the post at the bell , fab up a square post to fit in the cut out. what you would do is get the profiles cut off where they are at the notch .
or on second thought...
fill the notch in the stair , cut the post to 1/2 lap over the fill pc

 

[johnre]

What used to be there had a square cross section. That's very easy to do and make it fit correctly, it will look right against the step and stairjack, and most importantly, it finishes the job for now at not a lot of expense. If you later decide you still want something turned, you can get it done at your leisure.

 

[jar944]

Imho I think you need a different post for this to not look like a mistake.

 

[nmk_61802]

Short of ordering a new post as mentioned, I'd be tempted to leave the 90* post as square. Treating it as a starter/ termination post.

Hard to tell from the limited pictures, but this may look the least like an error of anything.

 

[billconner]

You need a square base. It seems very unlikely to not look like a mistake and also won't be fastened as well.

I'm thinking you could slice it so bottom is like a 1" thick "blade" and then laminate same species to both sides of blade to build it up.

 

[nmk_61802]

You need a square base. It seems very unlikely to not look like a mistake and also won't be fastened as well.

I'm thinking you could slice it so bottom is like a 1" thick "blade" and then laminate same species to both sides of blade to build it up.

You can clearly see the original post has been extended with a lap joint in his photos. Unfortunately he says the new decorative post is already the correct height. Extending the post is the easy part, cutting off the same extension on the top, without it looking odd is what I see the problem being. No way to tell without a full photo of the post if it is even possible.

 

[billconner]

Extending the post is the easy part, cutting off the same extension on the top, without it looking odd is what I see the problem being.

I tried to describe not extending the new post but cutting away part at bottom and building it up square.

 

[whateg01]

I would go with the suggestion to use a square profile at the corner.

 

[MikeC55]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Here's what I decided to do. First photo is the original post, shown in previous photos. I cut is as shown in 2nd photo. I took a 2nd post (will have to re-order), cut the bottom portion such that the bell shaped area is gone and then will join the two ends. I plan to drill a 1" hole in each piece an glue a dowel in there. It's an extra $150 for a replacement post, but I think short of going full square, this will look ok.

 

[The Cobbler]

looks good.

 

[The Bean]

It's a shame you had to cut out an important part of that classic turning shape. What do the rest of the balusters look like? Here's a pic of some antique stair parts leading to my man cave. The newel and the railing with balusters are not from the same original stair but they work. Hope yours turns out well.