The big window is close to living again

Today, the big window got much closer to living again.  While Jenny worked on some of the last bits of heat-gun stripping, I was able to finish sanding the trim and frame around the window, and get the first coat of shellac applied!  Of course, there are places where I just couldn’t get all of the paint out of a little crevice, or where the paint soaked-through an old screw hole to the point where it would be impossible to remove it without removing the wood there, too.  I could have obsessed over this for at least a few more full days of working at it, but I had to call it quits at some point and move ahead with other tasks.  The MultiMaster did a great job in most of the hard-to-get-to areas.  There were a few places where I still had to resort to hand sanding, but having that tool (along with the ROS) made sanding actually move forward pretty quickly.  I’d still be sanding for the next few days otherwise.  Check out this page of MultiMaster tips, if you’re interested in the tool. 

The trim and frame now has two coats of shellac.  Jenny and I had a few errands to run this morning, so we woke up, I applied another coat to the window sash, and we took off on our errands.  When we got back, I put another coat on the sash (total of four), and got to work on the window.  I’m thinking that the trim and frame are going to need at least one more coat.  The shellac is nice, as it is dry and ready for another coat in about an hour.  I’d love to be able to get away with just one more coat on the trim and frame, though.

The plan is that the window is going back in tomorrow.  To make that happen, I need to do the following stuff:

• Trim and frame needs at least one more coat of shellac. 
• Top piece of main sash stop moulding needs to be reinstalled (nailed in place–the removable pieces will be replaced after the sash is back in place).
• Some old paint in the cavity between the bottom sash area and the transom area needs to be scraped of excess crap.
• The sash and sash trim pieces need to be waxed to allow for easy movement. 
• And if I have time:  The sash hardware (latches and pulls) need to have paint stripped and get reinstalled.

My thought is that the sash is going to be heavy enough that it won’t want to go up on its own.  If it does, I’ll probably leave the pins I’m using to keep the chains from receding into the walls right now in place, which will provide no lift on the sash.  That, of course, will force it to rest in its closed position. 

Next weekend I’m involved with doing sound for a show on Friday and Saturday nights.  Saturday during the day and Sunday, though, are going to be work days again.  I’m hoping to get a few people here and get people working with the chemical stripper on the rest of the woodwork in the room.  Jenny is going to try to finish the heat-gun stripping on an evening this week, which would put us in a good position to get cracking on the chemical stripper and prep work next weekend.  If it is possible to do that and get some sanding done next weekend, then we could be putting the finish on the trim that week.  That means that there is an ever-so-slight chance that we could be ready for primer on the weekend of the 8th.  That’s a real stretch, though. 

jonathan