Historic window restoration has been a big part of the work that I've done at the North Bennet Street School and throughout my internship at Essex Restoration. From curved church windows to 12 over 12 rectangle sash, I have certainly done my fair share of wood repairs, cutting replacement glass, glazing, and sash installation.
All of these experiences were a great primer for one of this years major projects, making reproduction windows from scratch. We were forewarned by our instructor that making sash would be a challenging and fussy endeavor, but I was up for the challenge.
I was able to remove the sash and frame that I was tasked with reproducing from the 1850's Cape home and bring it to the shop to take precise measurements.
The work began by ordering custom knives for a our shaper to cut the molding profile on the sash stiles, rails, and muntins. Once the knives arrived, I milled the stock to the proper dimensions and ran it through the shaper to prepare the parts and pieces.
Making a historically accurate reproduction required cutting mortise and tenon joints and then securing the joints with wooden pins. This glue-less form of joinery will provide long-lasting durability and allow the window to be disassembled in the future if repairs are needed.
With the window frame finished. I cut 12 pieces of specialty mouth-blown reproduction glass purchased for the project to size and bedded, pointed, and glazed the individual lights with glazing compound.
Producing a smooth and even glazing bead requires patience and a steady hand.
After giving the glazing 1 week to cure, the windows were primed and painted, and the excess material or "horns" were cut off.
With the windows sash complete, I used the badly deteriorated original jambs to reproduce new jambs. In the springtime, the reproduction sash and jambs will be installed as a single unit. By using old growth heart pine and quality oil primer and paint, the windows should easily last another 150 years.
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