Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

On 2/6/2012 12:42 PM, wrote:
Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

Clamp a flat base to the column and use router to create the flat in the
column.

--

wrote in message ...
Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

Sun light and PVC Railings is a Killer....
For 2 to 3 year the PVC will need to be replace,
because of Sun light is bad on it you would have too,
have PVC Porch Posts and railings with Steel Core...

--
User-agent: *
Disallow: /

On 2/6/2012 11:46 AM, dpb wrote:
On 2/6/2012 12:42 PM, wrote:
Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

Clamp a flat base to the column and use router to create the flat in the
column.

--


look in sailing marine store catalogs. they make wooden pads to go under
winches. one side is curved to fit the curve of a boat, and the other
side is flat.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:42:20 -0600, wrote:

Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

I would not remove the flutes from the post. Someday you may want to
change the railing. Get some treated lumber and a router. Router the
wood to fit the post and screw it on. Or trace the post on cardboard
and have a local machine shop make a steel or aluminum pad. The will
likely cost more than the wood.

Maybe there is something made for this too? Contact the manufacturer of
the railing and ask, plus look for railings on the web.

If all else fails, screw a piece of treated 2x4 across the flutes. That
wont look as nice but should work. Omce it's painted it should not be
too noticable, and will allow rain to run behind it.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:16:32 -0600, wrote:

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:42:20 -0600, wrote:

Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

I would not remove the flutes from the post. Someday you may want to
change the railing.

Very good point.

Get some treated lumber and a router. Router the
wood to fit the post and screw it on.

They make something with a bunch of 4" pins side by side that is
useful for transferring unusual shapes. There's a way to do this
without any special tool also.

Or trace the post on cardboard
and have a local machine shop make a steel or aluminum pad. The will
likely cost more than the wood.

Maybe there is something made for this too? Contact the manufacturer of
the railing and ask, plus look for railings on the web.

If all else fails, screw a piece of treated 2x4 across the flutes. That
wont look as nice but should work. Omce it's painted it should not be
too noticable, and will allow rain to run behind it.

On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:41:56 -0500, micky
wrote:

They make something with a bunch of 4" pins side by side that is
useful for transferring unusual shapes. There's a way to do this
without any special tool also.


Ya know, I have one of those tools. It's just a bunch of wires that
slide in a sleeve. I used it in the past for installing flooring around
door moldings. I'm not sure where it even is, but it's around here
somewhere. I know it worked well, and was not expensive.

There's likely a picture of them online, but what the f... are they
called?

On Feb 7, 11:17*am, wrote:
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:41:56 -0500, micky
wrote:

They make something with a bunch of 4" pins side by side that is
useful for transferring unusual shapes. * There's a way to do this
without any special tool also.

Ya know, I have one of those tools. *It's just a bunch of wires that
slide in a sleeve. *I used it in the past for installing flooring around
door moldings. *I'm not sure where it even is, but it's around here
somewhere. *I know it worked well, and was not expensive.

There's likely a picture of them online, but what the f... are they
called?

"contour gauge" is one name

nate

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:41:56 -0500, micky

Ya know, I have one of those tools. It's just a bunch of wires that
slide in a sleeve. I used it in the past for installing flooring around
door moldings. I'm not sure where it even is, but it's around here
somewhere. I know it worked well, and was not expensive.

There's likely a picture of them online, but what the f... are they
called?

Contour gauge:

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1292852

--
Bobby G.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:16:32 -0600, wrote:

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:42:20 -0600, wrote:

Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

I would not remove the flutes from the post. Someday you may want to
change the railing. Get some treated lumber and a router. Router the
wood to fit the post and screw it on. Or trace the post on cardboard
and have a local machine shop make a steel or aluminum pad. The will
likely cost more than the wood.

Maybe there is something made for this too? Contact the manufacturer of
the railing and ask, plus look for railings on the web.

If all else fails, screw a piece of treated 2x4 across the flutes. That
wont look as nice but should work. Omce it's painted it should not be
too noticable, and will allow rain to run behind it.

Thanks for all of the great ideas, I just forgot one important spec on
the column, sorry. it is round fluted aluminum. I think the best idea
is the contour device that has the pins in it try and find a block of
plastic and transfer the shape of the column using the contour tool.

Many thanks

On Monday, February 6, 2012 at 1:42:20 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Trying to add railings to my front porch. I have 7" round fluted AFCO
columns and want to mount PVC railings. I need a flat surface on the
column to attach the mounting flange. I think I would have to make a
mounting block that will fit into the fluted area of the column.
However I don't want to spend a lot of time in the shop if there is an
easier way. Thanks in advance

I've been examining ways to do the same thing with my fluted aluminum columns too. I have even thought about taking them out and replacing with wooden posts then I finally found an adapter for them. They come in various sizes for about $20. The flutes may not line up exactly from column to column, but if that happens just jack the beam they are under slightly and rotate them just enough to line-up. Hope this helps. Here is the link to the site I found.
http://www.fratta.com/6-Round-Fluted...-p/afco_06.htm