Scarf Joint: Board Stretcher with a Twist

Photo of hand rail by Jody Miller.

When building either a circular staircase or a spiral staircase, the hand rail is going to be longer than one can find stock for. Therefore, sections of railing have to be joined up to make the complete hand rail.
To that end, the “standard” way of doing this is to simply butt the sections together and join those up with a rail-bolt- Reasonably strong and reasonably easy to do.
But if one really wants to make it strong and failproof, one might consider a scarf joint. It’s not easy, but it’s so much more of an elegant solution.
A scarf joint can be a little tricky to fit even with simple straight sections. Joining two awkward, helical pieces together with a scarf joint adds a considerable amount of head-scratching to the process. Even the slightest misalignment will result in one of the ends landing way off course.
This is my idea of fun, as joinery is one of my passions and I love a good challenge. This is the kind of joint where hand skills are essential and patience in “sneaking up” on a perfect fit is necessary. It’s fussy but very well worth it. The user would likely never notice it since the grains were matched up pretty well, but I know it’s there, and I know this joint is not one of the things I need ever worry about.
A scarf joint in a circular staircase is very much worth the effort.