Outdoor wooden handrail

[nemo2000]

I have a short (about 0.5m) length of round oak handrail (probably American white oak) left over from fitting a new handrail on our staircase. My partner wants me to use it to fit a short 'grab rail' in our open-fronted porch, so that it matches with the interior work.

As far as I know the wood has not been treated in anyway, so what would anyone suggest as the best way to treat and/or finish it for outdoor use? I was thinking of Danish Oil or similar 'clear' finish, not paint. It may not last forever outside, but I would like to give it a try if I can get a reasonable lifespan from it.

 

[Paul Cumbria]

I have used Danish Oil on garden furniture with good results. Give it two good applications before fitting, then a clean down and re-oiling annually, and the wood should last a good long time.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

This from 1976 is a photo of a short hand-rail that I made out of a piece of scrap hardwood and a bit of a recycled check-out confectionery stand.(I was in retail management). It was to help my wife negotiate the two steps down to the patio, as she has MS. The patio doors opened from the left as you look at them.

Huge changes in the garden in the mid-eighties.
The patio doors went twenty years ago and replaced by these French windows. So the hand rail became of little use.
But I left it there.
It gets a coat of Dulux Trade mahogany woodstain as does all the other wood in the garden every few years. Still as good as ever, this photo is from this year.