Sourcing lengths of 6mm stripwood for the new parting beads has proved a challenge. This is not stocked by the local timber merchants, building merchants or DIY stores (despite the latter claiming to have 23 in stock on their website) so I had to make a special trip to Wickes in Kettering for this. As well as the regular pine stuff (I've seen straighter bananas), they sell what they class as a "light hardwood". I'm not sure exactly what wood it is but it puts me in mind of Obeche. In any case, it tends to be much straighter than the pine, although I still had to sort through quite a few until I found some decent lengths.
The new weight pocket covers have been cut to size and shaped using a tenon saw...
...then primed on the front surface and edges.
I mentioned last week that the sashes (particularly the lower sash) needed additional counter-weights to balance them. The upper sash weighs in at about 14.5 lb yet it had only a pair of 5 lb counter-weights, so needed about 4.5 lb extra to balance it. The lower sash weighs in at 19 lb (presumably thicker glass?) and had a 5 lb counter weight on one side and a 5.5 lb counter-weight on the other so needed a whopping 8.5 lb extra!
Fortunately, I'd got a pair of 6 lb weights from a previous window and a pair of 8.5 lb weights which my neighbour had kindly given me. These were closer to what I needed but I still had to add some more weight.
So, I've now found a use for that old strip of lead flashing that I'd been storing in the shed... I knew it would come in handy one day! For the upper sash (14.5 lb) I had the two 6 lb weights (which, together, actually came to about 11 lb) so I weighed out about 3.5 lb of lead flashing on the kitchen scales.
I then cut a strip of PSE timber into several 20cm lengths and drilled a pair of alignment holes in each. This enabled me to then pin them all together with a pair of long nails whilst boring a 32mm hole down the centre...
The pilot hole in the bottom piece was then enlarged to accept a length of 7mm studding.
The wood was soaked with water, then, with half the lead cut into smaller pieces and placed in a mini frying pan, I heated it with a blowtorch until it melted. This was poured quickly into the mould and left to cool.
The modular design of the mould meant that it was relatively easy to extract the cast weight. Unscrewing it from the studding was another matter, requiring a heavy duty vice and a pair of water-pump pliers!!
Et voilà... one 1.75 lb cast lead weight... just another one to make now!
The holes were opened up with a 9mm drill so they will simply slot over the sash cord and rest on top of the original sash weight.
For the lower sash, I have a pair of 8.5 lb weights. These actually weigh about 16 lbs as a pair so I needed to add 1.5 lb to each in order to balance the lower sash. Because these weights have a slightly different design, the sash cord exits offset to one side, so I wasn't able to use similar make-weights for these and a different approach was called for.
A 1.5 lb strip of flashing was cut and wrapped part way around the weight, dressed in at the top to secure it and then strapped using electrical tape at several points along its length to ensure it still runs smoothly.
A now familiar sight... the new pulleys are fitted.
The sashes were then attached to the cords and lifted into position. The new parting and staff beads were pinned into place, securing the sashes. The sashes are now perfectly balanced, requiring hardly any effort to lift or lower them.
Meanwhile, Jacqui has started work on the cupboard on the landing. She has stripped out the shelving and the supporting framework. We will re-utilise this, but the shelves will need some bracing to strengthen them as they are only thin chipboard and bowing quite badly. The door frame has been sanded back ready for filling and painting. The interior is papered and will need a bit of attention before painting.
Meanwhile, I have started stripping the door frame on bedroom 2 and patching the plaster around it.
The bottom of the frame was a bit rotten, so I dug out the damaged section with a chisel, glued in a scrap of timber and patched over with wood filler.
The rebate for the door latch was bit too large and a bit too deep for the new one. I didn't want to move it to a new position so needed to re-model the existing area. I wrapped the latch plate in masking tape, applied wood filler to the frame and then pressed the plate into position whilst the filler set.
This was then carefully cut away using a sharp knife and prised out.
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