keeping iron balusters from spinning?

[boulderscott]

Any tips on how to keep iron balusters with a decorative 'S' from spinning easily? Thanks.

[boulderscott]

Here it is:

[Happy Home]

Every install I've seen and instructions call for epoxy in the hole.

[Happy Home]

No escutcheons ?

[M Smith]

Installing iron balusters is just the opposite of installing a pin top wood baluster-

drill a deeper hole in the treads/landing treads, fill top hole about 1/2 way with a gel epoxy or clear thick bodied silicone
(E6000) and same with bottom hole, drop bottom of baluster into bottom hole first far enough to clear rail and then raise it up till it stops, tighten set screw in bottom shoe to keep it positioned overnite.

If no shoes are being used depth of bottom hole will control layout and installation would be the SAME as a pin top baluster.

I've also used epoxy putty sticks, once kneaded it's just a matter of figuring out how much to put up into the hole with little to no squeeze out. Easier to work with for sure, have a small cup/bowl of water handy as the epoxy starts to get sticky and a quick dip in some water and it becomes very workable and easy to manage without much mess. A pc of blue tape over the hole and them carefully cut out helps with clean up. Once cured it can be knifed and/or sanded and stained if so desired. Just make sure end of iron bar is clean and free of any oil.

M Smith

[boulderscott]

No escutcheons, they want it clean.

Thanks for the replies.

[dlhunter]

There was a pretty good article in jlc a few years ago about iron baluster installs.
Epoxy and blue tape.

[newman]

since there are no escutcheons to cover clips and screws, epoxy would seem like the most logical choice. if you grind a small notch in the balusters end and set it in the epoxy, it will form a "key" and hold better.

[markhoni]

The only really good way to make sure that those balusters wouldn't spin would be to cut any round ends off of them, and drill in square holes in your seat boards and rail bottoms with a mortising drill bit. Or drill round holes, and then square them of with a cornering chisel. And epoxy or PL urethane premium them in. Those things have real nifty handles on them for some over energized kid with nothing better to do than see if he can turn them. And I don't like using E-6000 or silicone to glue my iron balusters in. The stuff is way too flexible. You need a glue that is super strong and gets fairly hard. I prefer the PL premium because you have a relaxed work time, and don't have to worry about the glue setting up before you have a chance to line everything up just right. If you can find it they have one that is called PL premium pro line. It is thicker than the original PL premium polyurethane, and doesn't seem to keep oozing out of the tube all the time.