Making Storm Windows

Following are the steps I'm using in making storms for these windows, which I had made 15 years ago to go in the wall that was repaired because it was rotten from the water eating away at it for years (previous owner).

First I measured the space, bought the wood, cut and mitered it, then routed a channel on the inside edge of the outside of the window with the bit in the lower right of this fuzzy picture (sorry!).

I am a router novice, but am learning.  I made two passes a little over 1/8" deep each to make a nice deep shelf for the glass about half-way through the depth of the frame.  It ended up being about 1/2" deep.

Then I assembled the frame with glue and corner clamps and then secured it on the back side with flat screw-on corner braces, since I don't have a fancy biscuit-cutter for joining.  Note to self:  Never use the table saw for mitering again!

After painting an undercoat on the whole frame I purchased glass and put it in with glazier's points.  Gotta admit, that routing looks sweet!

Then I smushed glazier's putty around the frame, covering the points.  It's ok to be a little messy at this point--just don't get putty all over the glass.

Then take the putty knife--be sure it is not rusty and rough--and start at a corner, tilting it at an angle that meets the top edge of the frame on the other side and is tight to the bottom of the frame on the other.  Easier done than said.  It is about a 45 degree slant on the knife.  Just keep it nice and firm--use two hands if that helps--and slowly drag it to the other corner.  At the corner, lift the knife up making a nice bevel in the corner.  If your putty is fresh, this will go quickly.

AAAACCCKKKK  I don't believe it!  I ran out of putty 8 inches from being finished!  This was a new 8 oz container and it didn't even do two windows roughly 36" by 34".  Must keep that in mind.  I'm going out later and was going to stop at Meijer's on my way home, so will have to add another container to the list.  It will take days to dry, so adding the final 8" won't be a problem.  I have to put another coat of paint on the multi-paned windows anyway and then put the spring bronze weatherstripping around the opening.

I'm going to hold the storms in with hooks and eyes as I don't want to climb a ladder and hang them from the outside, although this would be the best way to do them.  These windows are going to be fixed-in-place windows so I'll just have to remove the inside moldings if and when the storms need attention in the future.

Buy Locally

I really want to support local businesses instead of national chains, but it's hard.  It's really hard.

I'm finally getting around to weatherizing the former maid's room that had an exterior wall replacement in 1995.  Has it really been that long?  I had stuck some insulation between the studs on the inside and called it done until it was remodeled into a bigger bathroom/laundry.  Well, no timeline on when THAT will happen, yet, but the windows needed attention.

When I removed them I found that some of the putty has dried out, some new paint is called for, and there is some rot starting on the bottom of one where the gutter drips onto the sill.  There was also some rot starting on the outside sash, so I gouged it out and got out the WoodEpox and LiquidWood and took care of that problem.  Also silicone caulked where necessary and painted the trim and sill.  I undercoated the inside of the sash and sanded the edges.  I need to take off about 1/8 " on a side and bottom because I'm installing spring bronze weatherstripping around these windows when I put them back in.

While I had the windows out I thought I might as well replace the decorative trim that went on the outside sash and build storm windows.  This is what precipitated the trip to the local lumberyard.

This local business, about one mile away, has been around for probably over 100 years at this site, but has really trimmed back on products and services.  If you want a really nice piece of clear pine instead of sorting through hundreds of holey, bent, twisted, and rotted pieces of wood at Menard's or Home Depot this is the place to go.  You also pay well for it.

I needed, ultimately (2) pieces of 2" x 1" x 10' and (2) 2-1/2" x 1" x 12' for my trim and storms.  I like to pick out my own wood.  I also asked if they had a carpenter on site who would make my trim.  The answer was "not today" but he is in on Friday.  (This was last Wednesday.)  I said "Never mind.  Do you have a card of a carpenter?"  They gave me one and I will be seeing him on Monday--hopefully he will work out because I periodically need a carpenter.

I headed out to the wood shop after horrified looks from the counter staff.  I told them I wanted to pick out my own wood and had been doing it there for years.  (I have gone there periodically over the years.)  The worker in the wood shop was nice and polite but denser than waterlogged cedar.  I told him what I wanted and he started wandering around looking for it.  There were no stacks of lumber cut to size back there.  They seem to cut all on demand.  We found two nice pieces--one 12' long and one 14' long.  I explained over and over and over what I wanted him to do and finally found out that I had to pay for all the cuts to make the pieces I wanted.  Vertical cuts were $1.25 and horizontal cuts were $.50.  Naturally I wanted to make as few as possible.  The wood was 6" wide, so this guy wanted to make two vertical cuts in each and lop off 2' from the 14 footer.  That was unacceptable and I finally convinced him just to cut at 2" vertically on each piece and cut off 2' from the 14 footer.  This took quite a while to get across.  I then went inside the store to get the lumber order for him to get my order.  This had morphed from me wanting 4 pieces of lumber to "creating" 4 pieces of lumber and when she wrote it up it was $45!  I suspected it wasn't right, but went out to have it cut.  The worker also said that it wasn't right but he would get them to revise it after he was done, and then he cut them at 2-1/2"!  I had lost patience, so said "That's fine.  Leave it like that."

I had been charged for the 14' piece of wood, even though I was leaving 2' behind.  This stuff was $1.52/bd foot.  I got a refund, but I think they made an error to my credit.  I tried to buy the other things I needed there, but they only had one corner brace in the box and they were 69 cents each.

It took so long there that I had no time left to go to the hardware store for the braces and sandpaper so I just went carefully home with my 12' boards sticking out of my 6' truck bed during rush-hour traffic.  I ended up going to Meijers later and got two packages of braces, 4 to a package, with all the screws for about $1.99/package.

I really want this business to succeed but don't see how they can if they sell wood like that.  I only had them rip it because I wanted the 12' pieces and they are too long for me to handle on the table saw by myself, not having a wood roller thingie. They do have nice wood, though.

I've cut and mitered the storm window pieces and routed out 1/2" for the glass to sit on and glued them up.  Tomorrow I'll screw the corner braces on and undercoat and paint them and Monday will go for some glass and if I get up early enough, get it put in.  I have to use corner braces because I don't have a bisquit joiner or screw pocket gizmo.

It started raining the day after I took the windows out, so we'll see if the weather will cooperate until I get these holes in my house filled.

Piano Stool Transformation

Finally got it done today.  Ain't she a beauty?  This was the worst strip job I've ever done.  All those grooves and curves!  Found the best tool was good old steel wool and a dental pick.  I opted to make it look new instead of leaving the feet all brown and rust-encrusted.  The glass balls are really chewed up on the bottoms but they still shine.

Since the wooden seat top was missing and someone put that rough wood on there I made a nice thick cushion and used some crushed velvet I had laying around and tacked it tight all around.  I found some fringe that matched perfectly to cover the tacks and give it some oomph.  In the picture the colors are a little off.  In reality the trim matches.

More "Projects"

Take a look at the neat Eastlake-Style Gentleman's Chair I picked up Sunday at Allegan for $30.






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Lexington says "I'm a Gentleman".

I'm thinking that this is quite late in the Eastlake period as the decoration looks more modern than on the other chairs I have. It's missing casters on the feet and needs better upholstery, but it is in good shape and just has one repair that I can see.

I also picked up this piano stool for $35. It needs some tlc and somebody removed the wooden seat when they "upholstered" it, so I will probably make a leather padded seat for it.

Here it is after removing 72 staples and foam and the blanket cover. I found a layer of Depression Green under the white and the glass feet are really chipped and ground down, so this poor little stool has seen a lot of rough use.


I had a nice closeup of one of the claw feet but Purrcey got in the way.


After I had bought this and taken it back to the truck I found another one for $30 that was in better shape. Oh well! Will post progress reports.

Time for a Little Politics

Our governor, Jennifer Granholm (MI - D), in her infinite wisdom, has decided, probably upon pressure from benefitting interests, to demolish the State of Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries (HAL). That was not enough. She also decided to establish a brand spanking new "Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention". It will have a board of nine members to divvy up the carcass of HAL. Here is the makeup of that board. (I have just found out that Blogger will not let me cut and paste.)

"Nine members will form the Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention Board: the director of the Department of Natural Resources, superintendent of public instruction, and seven gubernatorial appointees. Three of the members selected by the governor will be from a list of candidates nominated by President Simon, and a fourth will be from a list of candidates nominated by Mayor Bernero. The board will issue its final report to the governor by June 1, 2010."

Look at that list. The DNR, three cronies of the president of MSU, a person selected by the Mayor of Lansing, the "superintendent of public instruction"--that leaves three people without an agenda, but they will also be hand-picked by the governor. This does not look good for historians, genealogists, and preservationists in the State of Michigan.

If you read the article I linked to above and scroll down to the very bottom you see what happens to the State Historic Preservation Review Board. It goes to MSHDA! All the irreplaceable historical records and books go to the DNR! And they will "evaluate and implement additional cost saving measures". What does that mean? Will our archives end up as litter in the bottom of animal cages, or as landfill in some state park? Why put an agency devoted to the outdoors in charge of things that should be stored INDOORS? And with MSHDA running the Historic Preservation Review Board will we now be mandated to use vinyl windows and siding and "encapsulate" all lead paint? I shudder to think what will happen.

The Department of Education will now be running the Library of Michigan with the same caveat to "evaluate and implement additional cost saving measures". Oh, wonderful.

And who will get the wonderful, almost new building just two blocks from the capitol? Why, probably MSU!

Here are some links to articles written by other concerned genealogists/historians:
http://mimgc.org/LOM.html
http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazsh/gazsh-0034.htm
http://http//www.mla.lib.mi.us/node/1027

If you are a resident of the State of Michigan, please take the time to let the governor know how you feel about this at this link: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html

Sorry for all the links, but this is an important issue and I wanted to cover all the bases.

A Little Reconstruction, Fini

Had a few days of rain and/or wind over the weekend, and, as I was doing this outside I had to wait. Finally got the chair finished yesterday. I had some Formby's "Tung Oil Finish" here so tried that and it looks great. Got some clear shoe polish for the leather seat, put on two coats and it's nice and shiny. Worn and beat up, but hey, it's old. I'd had to remove some ugly paint splotches from it already.



My mother offered me another chair just like it, but not broken--just in need of some TLC so I'm taking it. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's solid oak with a leather seat, so it will look nice no matter where I put it.


A little dark, but I didn't feel like hauling it back outside.
Now I need to finish the sideboard. . . .

A Little Reconstruction, Part Tres

I ran into a little snag today with my router. I have had it for a long time, but haven't used it very often, but want to get more proficient with it. I know it's bottom-of-the-line, but should work ok for what I want to do with it. I just had to make one of these:

They hold the seat on. First off, I couldn't find the owner's manual for the router. I always like to check them out before I operate any of the machines I have around here because I don't use them all that often. Looked in all the places it should have been. Don't remember seeing it for a long time, so the ex must have put it somewhere. So I went online and found one in 15 minutes. I love the internet! Printed it out for free and figured out how to get the cutter on and off.

I cut up a piece of the right thickness of wood and started trying to set the height of the cutter. Another problem. The thing you're supposed to turn to raise and lower the cutter got jammed up by my weak girly hands and I had to take the stupid thing apart to re-align it. Got that done and then the stupid fences kept moving no matter how tight I turned the thumb-screws. I even hit them with a hammer and they still moved. So the piece I ended up with is not pretty but very functional.


Got them glued and hammered into place. By this time it was 8:00 at night and I wasted all afternoon on it. But hey! I'm unemployed and have nothing else to do. Still haven't checked to see if I have any poly for tomorrow . . .