Build a Stainless Steel Railing Yourself – Without a Welding Set

Build a stainless steel railing yourself – without a welding set

This guide describes how to build a railing from stainless steel tube using push-fit fittings. You can manage with tools found in any well-equipped workshop. You do not need a welding set.

What you need

Material

  • Stainless steel tube, brushed grit 240 – for handrail and posts usually Ø 42.4 × 2.0 mm
  • Push-fit fittings: elbows, tees, connectors, end caps to suit the diameter and the wall thickness
  • Wall brackets or base plates for fixing
  • Anaerobic retaining adhesive (e.g. LOCTITE 638 or 648) and the matching activator
  • Anchors and screws to suit the substrate – stainless steel if the railing is outdoors

Tools

  • Tube cutter or hacksaw with fine teeth
  • Internal and external deburrer
  • Spirit level, square, folding rule, marker pen
  • Drill, masonry bit
  • Cleaner for degreasing, lint-free cloths
  • Grit 240 abrasive fleece in case you have to blend in a spot

Step 1 – Measuring up and planning

Measure the run and set out the post positions. For a normal domestic railing the post spacing is usually 0.9 to 1.2 m. The greater the spacing, the more the handrail flexes – and the higher the force at the fixing.

Draw the structure out before you order. Every corner, every branch and every tube end is a formed part. If you do not count them beforehand, you will be one part short on installation day.

Railing height: in Germany a minimum height of 90 cm generally applies, and 110 cm where the drop exceeds 12 m. What governs is the state building code and the use of the building – check this for your project.

Step 2 – Cutting the tubes to length

A tube cutter gives the cleanest cut and does not wander out of square. When sawing, work with a mitre box and cut slowly – stainless steel does not like high speeds.

Allow for the insertion depth. A tube that sits in an elbow and a connector is shorter than the centre-to-centre distance by that amount at each end. Measure the depth on a fitting and note it down.

Step 3 – Deburring

Deburr inside and out until the tube end is smooth. This is not a cosmetic step: a burr scrapes the adhesive out of the gap as the tube is pushed in and pushes it ahead of itself. That is exactly where it will then be missing.

Step 4 – Dry assembly

Assemble the structure once completely without adhesive. Check alignment, angles and heights and mark the insertion depth on the tube with a marker pen. This mark tells you during bonding when the tube is correctly seated – and it shows you later whether anything has moved.

Also mark the fixing holes.

Step 5 – Setting the fixings

Drill, plug, fit the wall brackets or base plates. You must check the load-bearing capacity of the anchor in the existing substrate yourself – a railing is only as good as its anchorage. External thermal insulation systems and hollow bricks require special solutions.

Step 6 – Degreasing and activating

Now comes the step at which most joints fail if it is skipped.

  1. Degrease the tube end and the inside of the fitting with cleaner. Fingerprints count as grease.
  2. Apply activator to both surfaces and let it flash off. Stainless steel is passive – without activator the adhesive cures very slowly or incompletely.

Step 7 – Bonding and joining

Apply adhesive thinly and all the way round the tube end, then push the tube in to the mark while turning it slightly. Turning distributes the adhesive evenly in the gap.

Work in sections. Do not bond ten joints at once – you need the time to align each one before the adhesive grabs.

Wipe off excess adhesive immediately. Once it has dried you can only remove it mechanically, and that leaves marks on the brushed surface.

Step 8 – Aligning and curing

Check angles and levels while things can still be moved. Then leave it alone. The joint is hand-tight after minutes; it reaches full strength after about seven days. During this time do not load it fully and do not pull on it.

Step 9 – Final check

  • Check every joint for seating – the marker line must still sit flush against the fitting
  • Retighten all fixing points
  • Clean the surfaces; remove adhesive residue with grit 240 fleece in the direction of the brush lines
  • Close off open tube ends with end caps

Typical mistakes

Mistake Consequence
Not degreased Joint comes apart under load
No activator on stainless steel Adhesive does not cure through
Insertion depth not allowed for Tube too long, structure under stress
Loaded too early Joint moves before it is set
Burr on the tube end Adhesive pushed out of the gap
Polished across the brush lines Visible mark on the surface

Responsibility

Sizing the railing – post spacing, cross-sections, fixing, the rail loads to be applied – is up to you. In public and commercial areas it belongs in the hands of a structural engineer. The TÜV type test of our malleable iron range does not apply to the stainless steel parts.

Next

Push-fit fittings in detail – technique, bonding, 304 or 316 · To the stainless steel range