How To Make A Do-it-yourself Window Binding

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Being a shabashnik for many years in Soviet times, in the conditions of a chronic shortage of joinery products (and even more so in rural areas), I learned to find a way out of the most difficult situations. Especially often there was a lack of window sashes. And I got the hang of making them from scrap materials. This is what I'm going to tell you about …

No, I do not urge to immediately make complex bindings with doors, vents, transoms, but I propose to start with the simplest ones, with one or two slabs (Figure 1). When you acquire the necessary skills, you feel confident, then you can tackle bindings with several slabs (Figure 2), and then the most intricate ones. In this case, as they say: "Big ship - a big voyage." For now, let's start small …

1. Left vertical strapping bar.

2. Upper horizontal strapping bar.

3. Bottom horizontal strapping bar.

4. Horizontal slab.

5. Vertical slab.

6. Right vertical strapping bar.

Of course, any new unfamiliar business instills a sense of insecurity and even scares. However, I advise you to remember the well-known expression from ancient times: "It is not the gods who burn pots." That's right: not gods, but ordinary people - potters. It's the same with the sashes. We start, of course, with lumber. Maybe it will seem surprising to some, but after having made several dozen frames, I did not buy a single blank. He always managed with what was at hand.

In urban settings, finding suitable bars is not difficult at all. And their inexhaustible source is containers in the yards. What is there not! Pallets, shields, frames, slats, and you never know what else is suitable. There are a lot of waste (but not for you!) Materials at construction sites. Naturally, among all the variety, you need to choose only the right ones and of good quality. Do not hesitate at all: search and you will definitely find such.

Now, after general considerations, we proceed directly to the manufacture of window coverings. As an example, I will take one of the simplest models, the so-called "blind binding" or a frame with three glasses. So far, no imposts. An impost is a bar reinforced in a window frame between a sash and a transom. To make it clearer, I will explain: it is to the impost that the transom is attached and the sashes are attached. Imposts are horizontal and vertical (Figure 3).

Figure 3

1. Box.

2. Right vertical strapping bar.

3. Left vertical strapping bar.

4. Sash with a window.

5. Horizontal slab under the window.

6. A window.

7. The transom.

8. Loop.

9. Sash without a vent.

10. Horizontal impost.

11. Vertical impost.

It is clear that the blind binding is made of six bars of the same section. If they are not the same, then they must be adjusted to the same size. For this purpose, from those bars that are thicker or wider than the rest, it is necessary to remove all unnecessary. This is mainly done with an ax, but you can also cut it down, but this occupation is long and difficult. But the surface treated in this way will be much smoother.

If you start to process the bars with an ax without preliminary preparation, then due to knots, uneven structure of wood, you will get a very uneven surface, with pits and bulges. And in order to largely avoid this, make cuts in the blanks (Figure 4). The more cuts, the smoother the cutting area. Then chop down with an ax or chisel to the desired size. Then carefully align the entire workpiece with a plane.

When all the bars are ready, you can start making the frame - binding. But first, let's define the terms that are used in carpentry (Figure 1). First, on all the bars, you must select the folds - the recesses into which the glasses are inserted. In vertical and horizontal slabs, this must be done on both sides. I usually make the depth of the folds 10 millimeters, although the depth depends on the thickness of the particular glazing bead, so that it, pressing the glass, is flush with the frame.

It is advisable to choose the bars so that there are no knots on th

sides where the folds are selected, since their cutting is very, very difficult. In addition, by sawing a knot, you risk getting into trouble - part of the knot will fall out, and there will be a hole in its place. In every possible way, avoid through knots in the bars.

It is very convenient to choose the folds with an electric

plane with a device for this purpose or with a

special plane - a zenzubel. If they are not there, it doesn’t matter either. Folds can also be selected manually. To do this, draw risks on the block (Figure 5) and, securing it (best in a vice), start sawing. But there is a subtlety … The saw, or rather, the file for this work should be with fine teeth and very short. Otherwise, it will bend and the cut will be uneven. And the very work with such a tool will turn into a continuous hassle.

If there are no fine-toothed saws or the so-called "narrow" saw, then I suggest doing this … Take a small saw, break it off, as shown in Figure 6 and start working. The final fold looks like this (Figure 7). In width, the folds can be with slight deviations from the dimensions indicated by the risks, since after installing the glass they will be closed by a glazing bead. In depth, try to make the folds the same. Otherwise, when assembled, they will be at different levels. For clarity, imagine that you are placing glass on a quadrangular frame, in which, for example, one side is lower and the other is higher than the other two. It is clear that the glass placed on them will lie unevenly, to put it simply, “play”.

You can, of course, try to equalize the depth of the folds, in one case, putting putty or something else, in the other, removing the protruding parts. But why create extra work for yourself ?!

If the folds are made, as expected, we proceed, perhaps, to the most important work:

filing the spikes and eyelets. The very name of the

spike suggests that it is a ledge. And the

eyelet is the groove where the spike is inserted.

Before proceeding with cutting them out, I very much advise you to remember the well-known proverb: "Measure seven times, cut once." She comes in handy here. And here's why … Even a slight bias, any inaccuracy of a spike or eyelet leads to the fact that all your previous work goes down the drain.

… A cleat thicker than the eyelet will split the harness bar into which it enters. And a tenon made smaller than an eyelet creates a flimsy connection. The spike will simply "dangle" in the eyelet. Therefore, the manufacture of spikes and lugs should be very careful. When cutting them, you must constantly make sure that the cut on both sides does not deviate by a millimeter from the vertical direction.

Before you start cutting, you should pay attention to two circumstances … First, the shoulders of the spikes are always not the same (Figure 8): the front shoulder is smaller than the back one by the width of the fold. If you do not take this into account, then the finished binding will look like this: (Figure 9) the part that is not shaded is the folds. The part that is shown with a dotted line must be cut off. The same should be done with the ends of the folds of the vertical strapping bars.

In some publications on carpentry, it is advised to make window sashes on two or even three thorns (Figure 10). I do one (Figure 8). This means that only two cuts have to be made on each bar. The fewer cuts, the less likely they are skewed, and as a result, the tighter the connection.

Since we will assume that we have two cuts, we mark the end of each strapping bar into three equal parts. Then we cut it out. Here it must be remembered that the thorn is cut out from the outside of the lines, the eyelet from the inside. I use a metal hacksaw for this job. If, again, a saw is used, then it must be sharp, with fine, equally spaced teeth.

When the lugs are sawn down to the end, how to remove the middle part? (See Figure 11). I select a drill of the appropriate diameter and drill. And, of course, I round off the end of the thorn. However, instead of a drill, you can use a chisel. And if the slot is too uneven, clean it with a file with a large notch.

I must repeat again: the details in the nodes, for example, the spikes in the lugs, must be connected very tightly, without the slightest gaps. If, when sawing, the cut still turned out to be ragged, you need to clean it with a chisel. After the quadrangular frame is assembled while still dry without glue, we begin to insert the slabs into it. Usually they are made from bars of the same cross-section as the strapping bars. I put the more massive slabs, and this saved the house from intruders (Figure 12).

The thieves, trying to get into the house, acted in a standard way … In the outer window frame they unscrewed the glazing beads with a screwdriver and took out the glass. The glass of the inner frame was stripped with a glass cutter, after which it was simply squeezed out. And then a non-standard situation awaited them: a frame with reinforced slabs. Thick massive slabs of the inner frame (inserted for the winter) narrowed the window opening so that it was impossible to get through it. The thieves did not dare to break the cover … Firstly, high from the ground, which means it is inconvenient to do it. Secondly, two frames would have to be destroyed, and the intruders do not need any extra noise. And so they got away, eating incessantly.

Again, on the pages of various publications it is recommended to make a double spike in the sash. I get by with one and think that this is quite enough.

It is possible to make a thorn and, accordingly, an eyelet in two ways: if there is a drill with a diameter of more than 10 millimeters, we drill holes in the strapping bars and make the thorn round (Figure 13). And you can make a spike of two types, rectangular (Figure 14). We make the eyelet in the horizontal slab in half a tree, the rest - through.

Now that all the details of the binding are made, we collect it. We cut off and clean up all protrusions, irregularities, roughness. Be sure to check the tightness of the abutment of the parts to each other and their rectangularity (with a square in the corners, a rail or a meter diagonally).

After checking the binding, we mark all the details, disassemble, coat them with any wood glue and reassemble.

I advise you to do it in this order (Figure 15)

first bars 3, 4, 5: insert into bar 1,

then insert bar 2,

and put on a strapping bar 6.

After that, in all corners we drill holes with a diameter of 10-12 millimeters and, having missed holes and pins (wooden nails, corks, call it what you want) with glue, insert them into the holes and hammer them to the end with a hammer. The dowel should fit very tightly into the hole. Sometimes, instead of a dowel, metal corners are used (Figure 16). This is how anyone likes … It is permissible to simultaneously apply both.

After drying, the beads of glue must be removed, and the binding must be cleaned with sandpaper. As a result of all these manipulations, the frame will look like in Figure 17. Having cleaned the binding, we install an ebb on the lower bar of the strapping and on the horizontal slab (Figure 18). The length of the ebb is equal to the width of the binding. Instead of a wooden ebb, I put a strip of galvanized iron.

Having stepped back from one edge - its long part, I bend it at an angle of about 45 degrees and tightly nail it or screw it with screws to the bar. Although, of course, a wooden ebb tide looks much more aesthetically pleasing, more harmonious than a metal one, a strip of galvanized steel lasts much longer and is much easier to manufacture. But again - each in this case acts according to his own understanding.

Now the binding frame is finally assembled and ready for use.

I hope I spoke quite intelligibly about how to make a window frame myself without any problems. Having made several such frame bindings with your own hands, you may well want to create much more complex products. And then back to business! And, having begun, in no case do not despair, do not retreat and do not give up what you started. Be guided by the immortal aphorism of Horace: "If the matter itself is not given in hand, you must steadily move forward." Look for a way out of the most seemingly dead-end situations, show persistence, ingenuity, ingenuity, and then, I am sure, everything will work out for you.

Alexander Nosov, jack of all trades