Category: windows

In a previous post I mentioned that we need to make a bunch of windows for the ground floor. We’ve already cut the wood for the window bucks and we’ve now started on the window sashes. For this I’m using the Infinity window sash router kit with our lovely Incra router table.

For my first attempt I made a smallish lower sash out of scrap pine. After milling to size and cutting the stock to length I used the Dowelmax to create the dowel joints. You can see in one of the photos that the dowel holes aren’t centered, this is a ‘feature’ of the Dowelmax and is really only noticeable on thin stock. By the way the Dowelmax is a lovely bit of kit, it is pricey but it will outlast me.

The traditional joint in a window sash is the mortise and tenon and this joint probably allows the pieces of the sash to move slightly when the wood changes shape due to differing weather conditions, but as we’ll be using a wood less effected by the weather this probably doesn’t matter. An added advantage to using the Dowelmax is that Aimee is comfortable using it where as the mortise and tenon would require using the table saw.

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From the photos you can see that on the inside of the window the router bit cut an ogee profile and on the other side a rebate for glass and putty. As a first attempt I was pretty pleased, you can tell that the joint isn’t perfect but I’ll dial that in tomorrow.

Today I worked on getting a single sash joint near perfect and repeatable and I’m happy with how it turned. All we need to do now is to run through making the case that holds the sashes, weights and pulleys as this determines the sash size.

Throughout this work I will be relying on experts to guide us including Bob at ARC, friend Derrick and The Window Sash Bible by Steve Jordan.

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During this winter we’ll start making some sash windows for the ground floor. In total we have eight to make. This is a pretty big job as it’s not just the window sashes that have to be made but also the window bucks and the window cases/sash boxes that contain the pulleys and weights etc. We’ll do a trail run first to see how it goes and if that proves too hard then we’ll save up and pay someone.

We’ll use cheap pine for the first one we make as we’re bound to make mistakes and we don’t want to waste expensive wood. The final windows will be made out of a thermally modified wood. This heat treated wood is rot resistant and dimensionally stable (won’t warp much), it’s permanently resistant to water and it’s looks beautiful (think mahogany). The only downside is the cost, $8 – $10 a board foot but luckily I found Paul on craigslist who was selling some left over project wood for $4 a board foot. This is the second lot we’ve bought from Paul which he kindly delivered.

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Initially we had planned to use Accoya, which is another long lasting wood and possibly better than thermally modified wood, for the windows, however, it’s not that easy to get hold of it or as beautiful, that said we will probably use Accoya for the remaining windows in the house.

So the first thing we have do is to make the window bucks out of pressure treated wood. These aren’t visible when the window is complete so they don’t have to be fancy. We’ve cut all the wood to size and now they’re ready to be assembled for which we’ll be using the Dowel Max which looks a lovely bit of kit.