Magic Man

Say what you will about NASCAR (I for one am not a fan) but Talladega Nights:  The Ballad of  Ricky Bobbie is fantastic.  One of my favorite scenes is when Ricky Bobbie returns from a 3hr hospital admission to find his wife has written him off for dead and his best friend and teammate has moved into his house and asked Ricky's wife to marry him.  Upon learning his world has been turned upside down, his former friend and teammate adds insult to injury by informing Ricky he has abandoned their former trademark catch phrase "shake and bake" with a new one:  "I'm the Magic Man....now ya see me, now ya don't."  As absurd as this catch phrase sounds, I must admit I too felt a little bit like a magic man when I finished installing the newel posts on my stairs. Read on and you'll see why.



After having completed the "dry fit" process to see how everything would come together, I set forth developing a process by which I could install all my newel posts along my stairs.  Again, this is probably best told with photos, so I'll keep the narrative to a minimum.

This view shows the notching of the step around the post...I think it turned out pretty well.

Despite this being a fairly involved process (each post took me between 2 and 2.5 hrs), I feel the end result was well worth the extra effort.  I would argue the overall look is consistent with the stair case's minimalistic design and from afar the support bar is barely visible.  It definitely validated that which I discussed in my last post....simple is hard.  Of course, it never hurts to have a little magic on your side.