I'm Bruce Buchanan and today I'm working on a few residential windows that I'm
I'm Bruce Buchanan and today I'm working on a few residential windows that I'm
restoring. These are the frames for them. They're three diamond
pane windows from a house in Shaker Heights that after 100 years, the windows
are failing. The lead joints were breaking and the windows were starting to sag and
come away from their support bars. I took them out of their frames, out of
these awesome frames that they're in. They're hinged casement windows, so
these big windows would, you know, swing open so those windows actually got a lot
of abuse just from being slammed around and all that. It's a wonder that
they needed help only after you know a hundred years. So, here's one of the
windows that I've taken apart. You can see -- I took the whole window apart from
and removed all the lead and I'm going to use all the same glass again. There are a
few breaks in the window that I'm going to recut as I go along ... Here I've got the
crayon rubbings of the original windows. You just lay a paper over and
take a rubbing with a crayon and then you end up with a map of how to take the
window apart and keep track of the pieces and then a map for putting it
back together. So, here I've got all of the pieces taken apart and laid out on
the rubbing so that I can use the exact same pieces in the exact same places
that they were. This particular window is cut really well so all of the diamonds
really are true to each other. Sometimes you'll have little variations and it
really matters to keep the pieces where they need to be. There were some breaks
in this window so I've got them marked and I will recut those from new glass
when I rebuild the window. Okay, so at this point I've rebuilt the window
and it's all just held together by tension with the
glazing nails. I'll go in and I've already gone and kind of lined up
everything as well as it can be lined up, so that when it gets soldered, it's
as perfect as it's going to be. Kind of really try to make sure all the lines
are true and straight and then once I got all that straightened out, I apply
flux to each of the solder joints which is um kinda it cleans a joint and it
makes the solder adhere to the lead where I want it to be soldered together.
The flux kind of prepares the joint for being soldered. Some people say that it
cleans the metal - I think there's something to do with it actually being a
temperature bridge for the two metals to bond together. You see that the lead has
one melting point and the solder has a lot of tin in it and it has a different
melting point. So you actually want to get them so that they adhere to each
other so I think that's what the flux does, it helps them attach. Then, here, I'm
just going to go and I'm going to solder all of the solder joints. While I'm doing
this, I'm just trying to make sure that it's making a nice, just pretty
joint.
I want it to connect to every bit of the lead I need it to connect to.
So I'm soldering these little joints and I'm kind of pulling the solder in
the direction I want it to go. A lot of people try to put it on like
they're painting with it but actually with the soldering iron,
the solder is pulled to the heat so you can actually drag the stuff with it
because it just it wants to go to heat.
Ideally, all the joints are so perfect that everything's really butted
into each other, all you're doing is adhering them you know putting a thing
across them. But sometimes it'll be a little bit short there - the little gap -
and you can bridge that gap with the solder. Which is actually because of the
tin in it it's a little stronger than the lead itself... so. If the iron's not hot enough
you end up with a cold solder joint. Which is, you really want them to look
really wet and just flat and puddled into - puddled in a flatness. If
the iron isn't hot enough, you end up picking up the lead in it - see now this
is too hot - and it'll come into a little peak and this sharp nasty little peak.
So you want a nice, beautiful, flat melted- out puddle.
And always like one little solder joint that you missed ...
And then even here, if I if I missed a solder joint, you know I've got the iron
that's already off so I'll you know put a little tape mark just to remind me or
if there's a little ugly solder joint, put a little mark on it, you know, come back
to that next time.
... sweet ...
Here, actually, I'm going to keep going a little bit. I'm going to slide this guy out and press
down the edge leads. It helps when you're installing it and keeps the cement
from getting in the outside edges. Although, sometimes you want it to get
in there. And then here, actually, we'll slide this right off the bench.
There it goes. A window!
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