We have a new-old railing over the top of the stairs that go to the basement of our house. Some people call it the large space under our house a basement, I call it a wine cellar and the future home of the Vicar's Vault (where you can rent your own wine storage!) My friend, Ben Stein created the railing for me. I purchased some used railing at Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage. They have an amazing assortment of used items, and at a fraction of the price of the stores in Portland. It's a funky, fun place to visit. But the railing didn't look anything like this when I purchased it. First of all it was in two pieces. Ben had to cut up the pieces and then add the larger three inch posts in between them to make the railing long enough. He then added the trim pieces to the top of each post. Finally he had to fabricate the bottom half circle section so that the railing was tall enough to pass modern code. The fact that you can't tell what Ben did to make this piece work is a testament to Ben's skill as a metal worker.
In Ben's other job he works as a millwright at Cascade Steel Rolling Mills. What that means is that Ben is responsible for making sure that everything keeps working. If it's broken he fixes it. If they don't have the part to fix it, he manufactures it on the spot. 
Ben is a genius at seeing the solution to a problem. I've gone with him to Mexico to build houses with Amour Ministries. I always dislike being on Ben's sight because they always give him the most challenging location--the one with insurmountable problems. I've seen Ben stand and look at a big problem for about ten to fifteen seconds, and then, presto-chango he's come up with the solution.
(To the right is Ben's beautiful wife, Liz helping to pick up the railing from the painters.)
Ben is a genius at seeing the solution to a problem. I've gone with him to Mexico to build houses with Amour Ministries. I always dislike being on Ben's sight because they always give him the most challenging location--the one with insurmountable problems. I've seen Ben stand and look at a big problem for about ten to fifteen seconds, and then, presto-chango he's come up with the solution.(To the right is Ben's beautiful wife, Liz helping to pick up the railing from the painters.)
When Ben delivered the railing my next door neighbor was admiring Ben's trailer (after he admired the railing of course.) "Where did you buy that?" He asked. "Buy?" Ben asked. No, he made it. He has jigs for the trailer so that he can carry up to five canoes at one time.
As we were unloading the railing Ben knew exactly how to lift it and carry it over. At one point he looked down at the railing and said, OK, let's lift here. "Why here?" I asked. It turns out Ben had put a mark on the railing to indicate the balance point, so if you're standing at that point, half the weight is on one side of you and half on the other. Those are the kinds of details that make Ben amazing at what he does. If you have a chance, come by and look at the railing. It is spectacular!