I arrived back in Bocas del Toro the first week of 2014 and it was a few days later that I was able to move into the available 2nd floor 2 bedroom unit at the Cabana Beach Condos where I was to reside for the next 5 months. It was there that I was to set up my “shop” on the back deck of this unit
Here are pictures of the old railings I was to replace. In addition, I’ve included a picture of the design selected by Kim and Bryan that served as the inspiration for the design with which I would replace the old railings.
Here are pictures of the old railings I was to replace. In addition, I’ve included a picture of the design selected by Kim and Bryan that served as the inspiration for the design with which I would replace the old railings.
The BEFORE Picture Of The Condo Railings
The Inspiration For The New Railing Design
I began by building extensions to both sides of my workbench and modifying it to cut the various pieces and components of the railings I was to build for all the units in the complex. Some of the pieces were as much as 14’ in length and I needed something more robust and accurate to make the cuts to these 2 X 4 pieces. One of the new tools I’d brought back with me was “skill saw” and I built a “track” on which I could slide the skill saw perpendicular to the long fence attached to the back of the workbench and its extensions. This track was hinged at the back which allowed stock to be moved into place against the “fence” and then the track lowered over that stock. You could think of it as an inexpensive radial arm saw which normally would cost several hundred dollars and which I built for under $100 including the cost of the skill saw. The yellow, low friction track slides were made from simple nylon mastic or body filler spreaders. This track also served as a guide for my router used to cut the “Sunburst” centers which were a focal point of the new design of the railings.
Workbench With Wings Installed
The Track For The Skill Saw And Router
With this setup I could also make angled cuts of the many “Rays” of the sunburst so that they would meet up properly with both the vertical and horizontal elements of each of the 36 separate segments that comprised the 12 sections of railings.
The most complex task was to figure out how to make the half-moon pieces that make the hub of the sunburst. I didn’t have a saw that could cut accurate circles so I started with one foot square pieces cut from a sheet of ¾” thick marine grade plywood. Next I drilled a 1/4” hole in the center of each of the square pieces. I then attach a ¼” bolt up through the work bench top which would serve as a pivot point for the blanks. I then mounted my router under the bench top so that the router bit would extend up through the top. It was positioned so that the bit’s edge was 5-¾”inches from the pivot point. Now I could place the blanks over the pivot point and rotate the piece against the router bit. That trimmed away the edges of the blanks, creating a circular disk 11-1/2” in diameter. After cutting out 38 of these disks (2 extra for possible mistakes) I next made a jig that held these disks but allowed for them to be rotated about their center pivot points. Next I cut a square piece of plywood that fit in the same tracks used by the skill saw and attach the router to the top of this piece with the bit projecting downward through the wood. With this setup I could route out slots that the sunburst rays would fit into. I would clamp down the disk so that it could not rotate and route the first slot. Next I would release the clamps and rotate the disk and re-clamp the disk to cut the next slot. To make this task easier and more consistent, I attached an arm that could be slipped into the previously cut slot so that the next slot was at the exact 22-1/2 degree angle needed. This process took a bit of trial and error. And I was glad that I had cut out the extra blanks. Once all of the slots were cut, I needed to cut each of the disks into the two separate halves. And again that cut had to be very accurate so that each pair of slots would properly line up. Modifying the jig, I was able to use the skill saw in the track to do this task.
Here are pictures of the jigs I built to do these tasks.
The most complex task was to figure out how to make the half-moon pieces that make the hub of the sunburst. I didn’t have a saw that could cut accurate circles so I started with one foot square pieces cut from a sheet of ¾” thick marine grade plywood. Next I drilled a 1/4” hole in the center of each of the square pieces. I then attach a ¼” bolt up through the work bench top which would serve as a pivot point for the blanks. I then mounted my router under the bench top so that the router bit would extend up through the top. It was positioned so that the bit’s edge was 5-¾”inches from the pivot point. Now I could place the blanks over the pivot point and rotate the piece against the router bit. That trimmed away the edges of the blanks, creating a circular disk 11-1/2” in diameter. After cutting out 38 of these disks (2 extra for possible mistakes) I next made a jig that held these disks but allowed for them to be rotated about their center pivot points. Next I cut a square piece of plywood that fit in the same tracks used by the skill saw and attach the router to the top of this piece with the bit projecting downward through the wood. With this setup I could route out slots that the sunburst rays would fit into. I would clamp down the disk so that it could not rotate and route the first slot. Next I would release the clamps and rotate the disk and re-clamp the disk to cut the next slot. To make this task easier and more consistent, I attached an arm that could be slipped into the previously cut slot so that the next slot was at the exact 22-1/2 degree angle needed. This process took a bit of trial and error. And I was glad that I had cut out the extra blanks. Once all of the slots were cut, I needed to cut each of the disks into the two separate halves. And again that cut had to be very accurate so that each pair of slots would properly line up. Modifying the jig, I was able to use the skill saw in the track to do this task.
Here are pictures of the jigs I built to do these tasks.
Pivot Point For Disks
Disk Being Rotated Into Router Bit To Form The Circle
Router In Position To Cut Ray Grooves
Jig To Index Grooves At 22.5 Degree Intervals
Next I needed to accurately measure lengths of all of the 12 separate sections of railings and cut the top rails for each section to length. No two of these sections were exactly the same length so each had its own specific location. Then all of the vertical pieces which of course were all the same length. In the original railings the method of attaching the vertical pieces to the concrete floor floors and vertical columns was to simply nail them in place with hardened concrete nails. While that might work in some applications, here in this hot, humid, and salty environment, it didn’t work very well. Or at least, last very long. A more robust and permanent solution was needed. To that end, I drilled holes into the concrete and then using a special two part epoxy, embedded stainless steel threaded rods into those holes. In the case of the vertical pillars of the buildings construction, I drilled through the concrete skin applied over the steel box girders. Then I drilled and tapped holes into the steel girders. Then, again using stainless steel bolts, I bolted the vertical pieces to those girders. For the vertical pieces that were not against one of those girders, I drilled a hole up into the bottom of each piece. I then cross drill a 1-1/4” through the narrow dimension of the piece. Now I could place the piece over the embedded threaded rod and held in place with a nut and washer. Once in place the cross drilled hole would be plugged with a short length of dowel. Thus hiding the hole. I used this same general technique to join the shorter lower horizontal pieces to the each other and the vertical pieces.
Details Of The Vertical Rails To Embedded SS Studs & Details Of How The Lower Horizontal Rails Were Secured To The Vertical Rails and Each Other
The lower two condo units are only single bedroom units and have much smaller patios with correspondingly smaller railing sections consisting of a front 3 segment section and a side 2 segment unit. On one end of each of the 3 segment sections is unsupported on one end as that provides access to the front and only door of the unit. This presented a new challenge. How to secure that unsupported end vertical piece. The solution was to make the base of that piece 8 inches wide and secure it to the concrete floor with 2 anchor points. Instead of the 2 X 4 stock of all the rest of the vertical pieces, I started with 2 lengths of 2 X 8 stock and then trimmed of 2” from the top of the piece to about 6” from the bottom, tapering that to the full 8” width. It worked out great and that unsupported end piece is very rigid. In the picture you can see the holes at the base that allow access to install the securing nuts. They were later plugged with a slice of dowel. This picture also shows the next challenge, which was, how to fill the spaces between each of the sunburst rays where they are inserted into the slots of the half-moon pieces.
Lower Floor Railing Showing The Unsupported Vertical End Piece And Its Double Anchor Points
There are 8 cavities in each of the segments that scream “Home for insects, varmints, water, and other debris” and the resulting chance for rotting. And of course, esthetically it’s not very appealing. My first attempt was to cut small blocks of wood and glue them in place. But I soon realized that because dimensionally, they all varied somewhat, it just was too tedious and time consuming to be a viable solution.
This dimension issue was a problem throughout this project. All of the wood was pressure treated to protect against moisture and bugs and the 2 X 4 which came from the supplier as 2 X 4s were dimensionally correct and consistent. However, the 1 X 3s used for the sunburst rays were anything but consistent. They should have had actual measurements of ¾” X 2-1/2” just as the 2 X 4 should have and did measure at 1-1/2” X 3-1/2” which is normal. But the first batch of 1 X 3s I received from the lumber yard measured anywhere between ¾” X 2-1/4” and ¾” X 2-3/4”. I went back to the lumber yard and complained and the owner explained that they didn’t actually get 1 X 3s direct from the supplier. They actually received 1 X 6s which they then ripped in half to the 1 X 3 final product. And this was done on an old table saw by workers that they probably paid $3 an hour to do the work. He further said that: “This is Bocas del Toro and I shouldn’t expect the same consistency I might have been used to in the US. I explained to him that a variance of a full half inch was not acceptable for my project.
He reluctantly took back the initial batch and instructed his foreman to provide another batch ripped to the proper dimensions.
And though they still weren’t perfect and varied by up to ¼”, they were close enough. EXCEPT when it came to making those blocks to fill the voids.With that methodology abandoned, plan “B” was tried. That was to glue in place blocks of wood that were ALMOST dimensionally correct and then fill the remaining gaps or voids with wood filler. But this presented its own set of problems. Number one was that it took 2 days to set up. Number two, it shrank terribly as it cured meaning that a second and sometimes a third coat was needed before it could be sanded flush with the half-moon edges. And number three, it was very hard to sand and the sanding had to be done by hand. There wasn’t enough room to use any kind of power sander. I manage to do several segments using this method but ultimately realized that I would never finish in the time allowed if I didn’t come up with a better solution. Onto plan “C”. I purchased a can of aerosol expanding foam insulation meant to full gaps around piping, window frames, etc. It filled the void nicely, expanding out of the hole and curing relatively solid in a half day or so. Then it was easy to trim away the excess with a knife. But it couldn’t be painted at that point because when it was trimmed to size it left tiny open cells. I tried using fiberglass epoxy resin to seal the surface but the epoxy reacted with the foam and simply “melted” it into a glob. Not good. So I next covered that surface with the type of spackle use to surface drywall tape. It sets up in a couple of hours and can be easily sand smooth and accepts paint well. Problem solved. Well for now anyway. At this point I’m nearing the dead line when Kim and Bryan were to return from visiting Kim’s mom in Vancouver BC. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that during the last 2 and a half months, I’d been managing the condo complex for them. But I’ll leave that story for another installment.
This dimension issue was a problem throughout this project. All of the wood was pressure treated to protect against moisture and bugs and the 2 X 4 which came from the supplier as 2 X 4s were dimensionally correct and consistent. However, the 1 X 3s used for the sunburst rays were anything but consistent. They should have had actual measurements of ¾” X 2-1/2” just as the 2 X 4 should have and did measure at 1-1/2” X 3-1/2” which is normal. But the first batch of 1 X 3s I received from the lumber yard measured anywhere between ¾” X 2-1/4” and ¾” X 2-3/4”. I went back to the lumber yard and complained and the owner explained that they didn’t actually get 1 X 3s direct from the supplier. They actually received 1 X 6s which they then ripped in half to the 1 X 3 final product. And this was done on an old table saw by workers that they probably paid $3 an hour to do the work. He further said that: “This is Bocas del Toro and I shouldn’t expect the same consistency I might have been used to in the US. I explained to him that a variance of a full half inch was not acceptable for my project.
He reluctantly took back the initial batch and instructed his foreman to provide another batch ripped to the proper dimensions.
And though they still weren’t perfect and varied by up to ¼”, they were close enough. EXCEPT when it came to making those blocks to fill the voids.With that methodology abandoned, plan “B” was tried. That was to glue in place blocks of wood that were ALMOST dimensionally correct and then fill the remaining gaps or voids with wood filler. But this presented its own set of problems. Number one was that it took 2 days to set up. Number two, it shrank terribly as it cured meaning that a second and sometimes a third coat was needed before it could be sanded flush with the half-moon edges. And number three, it was very hard to sand and the sanding had to be done by hand. There wasn’t enough room to use any kind of power sander. I manage to do several segments using this method but ultimately realized that I would never finish in the time allowed if I didn’t come up with a better solution. Onto plan “C”. I purchased a can of aerosol expanding foam insulation meant to full gaps around piping, window frames, etc. It filled the void nicely, expanding out of the hole and curing relatively solid in a half day or so. Then it was easy to trim away the excess with a knife. But it couldn’t be painted at that point because when it was trimmed to size it left tiny open cells. I tried using fiberglass epoxy resin to seal the surface but the epoxy reacted with the foam and simply “melted” it into a glob. Not good. So I next covered that surface with the type of spackle use to surface drywall tape. It sets up in a couple of hours and can be easily sand smooth and accepts paint well. Problem solved. Well for now anyway. At this point I’m nearing the dead line when Kim and Bryan were to return from visiting Kim’s mom in Vancouver BC. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that during the last 2 and a half months, I’d been managing the condo complex for them. But I’ll leave that story for another installment.
Expanding Foam Used To Fill The Spaces Between Rays
Same Foam After Being Cut To Finished Size
Now all that was left to do was to paint all of the railings. Luckily, Kim and Bryan had elected to have a local Panamanian painter do the painting. At first I was reluctant to have someone else do the painting. I was feeling very possessive about my work and didn't want someone else to potentially not do the job that I would do. However, after doing the painting on the first section of 2 segments I gladly agreed to their decision. Painting these was a real pain in the backside! And as it turned out, the person they selected did a great job.
Finished Painted Railings - 2nd and 3rd Floor
Finished and Painted Railings - First Floor
At this point I would like to acknowledge my good friend and fellow sailor/bicyclist, Michael Hoffman, who I bounced many questions and ideas off because of his experience and knowledge as an architect. Though at one point we did come to a point where we had to agree to disagree about the design. Michael correctly pointed out that the spacing between the rays of the sunburst were too wide to meet US building codes and encouraged me to add two more rays to each section. The reason is that, children, with their smaller heads could potentially fall through the openings. A valid point to be sure. However, number 1: this is Panama where there are no codes for this, number 2: these condo units are never rented to families with young children, and number 3, but most relevant in my opinion: I believe that we already have too many laws and regulations designed to protect ourselves from ourselves and we need to take more responsibility for our own well being and parents need to be more responsible for their children. I'll get off my soap box now.
This project took the better part of 5 months of 4 to 5 hour days to complete. It was at the top of the list of challenging projects and gave me a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction. It was a great exercise in designing and then turning that design into the finished product shown below.
A few days after the this project was completed my winter stay in Bocas del Toro was coming to an end and I was headed back to the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the summer with my family and friends.
See you in the next installment.
This project took the better part of 5 months of 4 to 5 hour days to complete. It was at the top of the list of challenging projects and gave me a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction. It was a great exercise in designing and then turning that design into the finished product shown below.
A few days after the this project was completed my winter stay in Bocas del Toro was coming to an end and I was headed back to the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the summer with my family and friends.
See you in the next installment.
