[Keith C]

Hi all,
Sorry I haven't been around for a while but life has been a bit crazy with four grandkids and all of them going to move into our house while theirs is renovated.

Anyway, I have a 1912 house with old wooden, I assume douglas fir, windows. They never had storm windows so have taken a beating over the years and the lower rail of the upper sash is sagging on many of our windows. I fixed one a while back, and had meant to make a template so I can easily repeat but didn't manage to do that. Anyway, I now have the idea that replacing the whole sash may be easier as the muntin bars have rotted somewhat on the one that I fixed. Would be nice to just take out the old and pop in a new one.

Is there a strong recommendation for a jig you can buy? I see some that are quite expensive, but would probably pay for itself with several windows, I think I need to do at least 3 or 4.

I'm certainly welcome to suggestions, and probably need to post some pics of my last window project.

Cheers and Happy new year,
Keith

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Maybe this thread from 2016 will help. It's not hard to make a simple mortise jig. http://www.routerforums.com/general-routing/93713-mortise-tenon-joints-router.html

 

[Keith C]

Thanks Chuck, will look at tonight. I was also looking at beadlock stuff. That looks pretty simple and should certainly be strong enough, I think. Anyone have experience with this? Seems Rockler only has beechwood stock. But looking at the Janka scale that is plenty hard enough. Any thoughts? I'm now leaning towards the beadlock.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

It will work but that is pricey considering you can make something that works just as easy. The main job for any jig like this is to eliminate measuring from an edge to locate your mortise. You'll have difficulty getting the location of the mortise accurately that way and if you are making a bunch some won't be identical to the rest.

All you need for a jig is an L shape with the top being ply with a slot in it for a guide bushing. For example if you want a 1/2" mortise then use a 3/4" guide bushing and make the slot in your jig 3/4" wide. You clamp the one leg of your jig to your work and plunge the bit into the work once you have the guide bush in the slot. You might need one jig for legs and a different one to do aprons but you can slap a jig like this together in 15-30 minutes out of shop scrap so the jig doesn't really cost anything and it's guaranteed to work because you are custom making it for the job.