Im welding a rail....(question)

Drew.C

Drew.C

Active member
Hey guys Ive recently learned how to weld in my tech ed class. I now get to do a self project so ive decided to make a nice rail. My question is though, im just using regular steel, will it slide well? Also will i need to put a coat of paint on it to make it slicker? Thanks, Drew
 
No paint. Notice how on all park rails, the paint is all chipped off the top? there's a reason for that. Your edges will dig right into it, the steel should slide well on its own. If not, just rub a little wax on it.
 
try to use medium or high carbon steel for the actual rail if you can (supports dont matter). i made one with low carbon and it's really soft and it gets burred really easily and my edges dig into it sometimes
 
the piece of steel im using for the rail itself came in, its around 20 feet long and about 1 and a half inches wide. its a square rail and it should turn out pretty nice. the best part is, all the steel was free. i love tax payers haha.
 
if you wanna make good one, strip it down so all the rust comes off = sand it so its super smooth, put a good primer on, and put 2 coats of paint on
 
Heres the finished product. It turned out pretty nice. Any suggestions on paint that will prevent rusting but still will make it slick enough to slide?

1276281087rail.jpg

 
I welded a rail recently as well and sanded off the paint because i was constantly catching edges trying to swap..... It works well but started to rust like crazy around the welds. Is there any thing you can coat it with that won't cause your edges to catch?
 
Wrong. I am the park manager at my hill.

The paint will keep your rail from rusting in the weather. it also does aid in sliding but it gets scraped off quick. Your edges do not dig in. Paint is not bad. IMO, paint everyrail you can if it is going to be outside at all.
 
This is the primary paint I use on all my rails. From the looks of that rail you could get away with 2 coats of regular rustoleum spray can black. 2 or 3 cans max should do it. If you wanna make it real easy on yourself, hit up oinkartltd.com and grab some rusto fat caps.
 
Just paint it with regular rust spray paint. There is this stuff called tremclad (sp?) and it works really well.
 
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