Staircase

[Charles Wilson]

Wife and daughter are going out of town next week so I decided to hire someone to sand our wood floors on the first floor of the house and I am refinishing my staircase.  So far, I have removed the trim and spindles and have numbered all of the pieces so they go back in the correct spots.
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I wanted to remove the handrail as it will be much easier to refinish but have run into a situation.  There are connectors (see below) and a threaded rod connecting a butt joint holding together sections of rail.
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Anyone familiar with how this works and how to tighten and loosen? . Also, any recommendations on a really hard poly?  I've heard General Finishes has a good product but have no experience with it.

Thanks in advance,
Chuck

 

[Naildrivingman]

You have a draw bolt in that picture.  It is called that because it "draws" two surfaces together.  Generally it is used in handrail, countertop and other situations where one desires a super tight fit between two square edges.  The draw bolts act like a permanent pipe/bar clamp.

Now the bad news.  The joint is probably glued and separating the two may be unlikely.  If you have the space, I would leave it as one assembly.  If you need to separate the two, you may have to clean up the mating surfaces on a miter saw, but I can't full throatedly recommend that.  In doing so, you may not get the cuts just right and leave for yourself a miserable reinstallation process.

Hope this helped.  Good luck.

Chris

 

[Cheese]

Also, any recommendations on a really hard poly?  I've heard General Finishes has a good product but have no experience with it.

I really like Bona Traffic, it's really tough. They also make a Traffic AS (anti-slip) that I'd highly recommend for the treads.

The photos below show how the nails of a 90# Golden will actually dent hard maple, yet the Traffic finish is still left intact.