Sash Windows

[tobs]

Hi,

Is there anyone out there who would like to show me how to make some sash windows on their spindle moulder?

I have some cutters from Whitehill Tools for making the profiles, not specialist tooling for churning out windows.

I have been playing around and it is fun, but some expert advice/demo would be appreciated.

Toby

 

[RobinBHM]

Are you meaning sliding sash windows? if so, box with weights or balance spring?

If you are making box sashes, then the boxes can be made mostly with basic spindle tooling; rebate block, grooving cutters. You will need a saw table for the cill section

Some useful information is available on reddiseals and mighton websites that sell all the ironmongery, beads and weights.

 

[Chip shop]

To be honest making sliding box sash windows (I'm assuming this is what you mean) is not the black art it's sometimes made out to be. Especially if you've got an old one to rip apart and see how it all goes together. I'd happily go through some of the basics, but would guess I'm a bit far away.

Tim Nott's sash window manufacture document is pretty useful. Hopefully he won't mind me posting a link: http://www.timnott.co.uk/Stuff/sashwindows.pdf

There's plenty of stuff on sashes in George Ellis' Modern Practical Joinery (not very modern, but still relevant). There's also a number of people on this forum who I'm sure would answer any questions you have.

PS Added to what RobinBHM said above, the only special spindle tooling you'd need is traditional sash profile knives, which I've never found 'off the peg'.

 

[tobs]

Thanks guys, very helpful.

I have been using profiles on my spindle moulder from Whitehill tools. I went to see them and they were excellent and very helpful.

So far, so good. It's not impossible.

Toby

 

[Jacob]

I did loads of sash windows. Very few off the peg spindle cutters (and zero router cutters) will match old mouldings so I ended up grinding my own. Very liberating - easy, very cheap, and possible to copy almost anything very precisely.

 

[Chip shop]

Very few off the peg spindle cutters.

Any at all? I've never seen a spindle cutter that come close to a trad sash profile, other than the ones I've had made.

If you can copy your profile onto a piece of graph paper, NLS or Whitehill will make chip limiter knives for you.

 

[Jacob]

Very few off the peg spindle cutters.

Any at all? I've never seen a spindle cutter that come close to a trad sash profile, other than the ones I've had made.......

I was just being cautious in case one had slipped through the net!
OK it's absolutely zero off-the-peg spindle/router cutters match old profiles.

 

[pollys13]

Quite a time back I saw Axminster do traditional window cutters for the spindle, these might be of use to you.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-tr ... rs-ax19800

 

[Jacob]

Quite a time back I saw Axminster do traditional window cutters for the spindle, these might be of use to you.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-tr ... rs-ax19800

They are not traditional. That's a crude modern profile, designed by somebody who has never looked at a traditional sash window.

 

[Chip shop]

Very few off the peg spindle cutters.

Any at all? I've never seen a spindle cutter that come close to a trad sash profile, other than the ones I've had made.......

I was just being cautious in case one had slipped through the net!
OK it's absolutely zero off-the-peg spindle/router cutters match old profiles.

Sorry if my reply came across as a little terse, it wasn't meant that way. I was genuinely interested to find out if you knew of any.

Actually, this leads to a moderately interesting question. When you grind your own cutters, do you make them so you cut the mould and rebate in one pass, like the knives in the link above? I've always used a rebate block and separate moulding knives in two passes.

 

[Jacob]

.........

Any at all? I've never seen a spindle cutter that come close to a trad sash profile, other than the ones I've had made.......

I was just being cautious in case one had slipped through the net!
OK it's absolutely zero off-the-peg spindle/router cutters match old profiles.

Sorry if my reply came across as a little terse, it wasn't meant that way. I was genuinely interested to find out if you knew of any.

Actually, this leads to a moderately interesting question. When you grind your own cutters, do you make them so you cut the mould and rebate in one pass, like the knives in the link above? I've always used a rebate block and separate moulding knives in two passes.

Always two passes. Otherwise you'd have to change to rebate block alone, then moulding alone, for the meeting rails. And it gives you more control anyway - better job. Usually remove the nicker from the rebate block if the glazing bar is really thin, or it gets a bit fragile.

 

[Chip shop]

I've got a sheer cut rebate block, with no scribes, that I use for glazing bar...Although I don't think I've ever made a sash so delicate that the scribes would have made much of a difference.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

 

[RobinBHM]

Actually, this leads to a moderately interesting question. When you grind your own cutters, do you make them so you cut the mould and rebate in one pass, like the knives in the link above? I've always used a rebate block and separate moulding knives in two passes.

Yes, In one pass. Whitehill can make cutters with the correct cutting diameter so you can combine rebate and mould together, add spacers for size of flat required. I plant on to form meeting rails.[/quote]

 

[Jacob]

I've got a sheer cut rebate block, with no scribes, that I use for glazing bar...Although I don't think I've ever made a sash so delicate that the scribes would have made much of a difference.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

I seemed to do a lot at about 14mm which gives 5mm glazing rebates and a 4mm rib in between (which probably has a technical name but I've never found it!). So the scribes nick into this significantly. No nickers probably not as neat as a sheer cut, but good enough.