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isherwood
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Those brackets don't care one iota what angle your boards meet at. They're simply a shear connection. The problem you'll encounter is that they'll be too short. Some ideas for that:

  • Nip the toe off your railings to a height of 3½" (to match the height of a square cut). A little sanding to match the eased edge on the rest of the board and you're good.

  • Use two brackets. Cut one end off of each such that you arrive at a total length appropriate for the length of the angled rail cut. Drill extra fastener holes if needed.

That said, I'm not a fan of this kind of hardware. I consider it a crutch to good carpentry, and it doesn't look that great. It leaves gaps and metal showing. I would carefully drill and countersink three toenails on the less-visible side of your rails and go with that.

Or, use a wooden rosette in the same way you're using these brackets. You can split a bit of 2x4 down to 3/4" thickness and mount it to the rail, then screw it to the post. Actually, I'd replace the brackets with these across the board. They'd look much better.


Good work! Congrats on taking the challenge to DIY. Here are a few other tips for now or future projects:

  • Leave your posts a bit higher than the top rail. Flush joints usually don't look great, and then you can bevel the post tops for visual interest.

  • Bevel the corners of your flat top rail so they meet the posts a bit more nicely. The final width should be about 3" so you don't hit the rounded post corner.

  • Partially or completely bevel the bottoms of your balusters so they visually blend with the bottom rail a bit better and aren't as hazardous to ankles.

  • Countersink for the bracket-to-rail screw heads in your posts to avoid the gap they create, or use flathead screws and countersink the brackets.

isherwood
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