Jig for assembling casement windows.

[BruceK]

Hello.
I'm doing a stable conversion (see photo) and am considering buying some'flat pack' casement windows made in sapele/utile. I've made a few windows in Iroko in the past, and those I just assembled on the bench with sash cramps, but there are 27 windows in this project, so I don't fancy making them all from scratch. At the moment I'm trying to work out how to make a jig suitable for gluing up the frames and casements. I've found various gluing jigs on Youtube videos but most of these are designed for cramping up panels or laminating and I can't find one that combines something like a mitre vise with the sideways/endways pressure needed to keep the whole framework square and tight at the same time. I was planning to weld up some 100 x 100 x 10mm angle iron to support the inner corners and to make some basic mitre vises, but that's as far as I've got so far. Windows are all either just under or over a metre wide and all approximately 1120 high. Most have 2 opening casements so there's a lot of gluing/assembling to do and I was planning to make 3 jigs so I could glue one window a day. Does anyone have any experience of a jig that would do the job or know of any plans/diagrams that would work? All suggestions welcome so thankyou in advance.

 

[HOJ]

Looks a bit more than the stables that I ever see! very nice.

Didn't know anyone did flat pack windows, perhaps I shouldn't turn down work from away, on that basis.

I've been in window factories, they have big hydraulic ram bench systems, overkill I would say for your project.

I make windows, but don't need that many cramps after I've got them together, frames get screwed, casements are cramped first then if M & T, wedged up, if FJ, just a couple of clamps while glue dries, &/or sometimes pegged to hold them.

 

[Doug71]

A couple of cramps to pull them up (obviously 4 if you are cramping both ways) and a few screws if you want, job done.

They should pull up square when you cramp them but measure across the corners to check.

 

[rogxwhit]

I can't suggest anything because you haven't told us what the joints are. But should I assume that they're not trad m & t, and will need cramping across height and width simultaneously?

 

[BruceK]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, they're traditional mortise & tenon. It's just that the here are so many of them that I thought a jig would help speed things up a bit. The flat packs are made by KJ Joinery and I'm planning to buy one and try it out to see how I get on. They even have their own Youtube video showing how to assemble them.

 

[rogxwhit]

Ok. Size variation is minimal - makes life easier, and it seems that they only need cramping in one dimension which for the main frames will be the height? What about making cramps with ply webs ('straps') top & bottom sandwiching end blocks that give a bit of clearance to the tallest frame, and knocking up wedges to do the cramping with? Angle the blocks to suit and you might only need a couple of wedges per frame. And you can adjust for square as you go.

Slightly more awkward if the sills project rather than being flush? Am I guessing that head & sill have horns that'll be trimmed off later?

Then there are the casements themselves which could have a similar arrangement?

Another cheap form of cramping is ratchet straps ...

I'll take a squint at their video.

 

[rogxwhit]

Seems they're hornless, so ideally you'd want to cramp both ways ... but the sill extension is applied separately so at least that's out of the way whilst cramping.

Not clear about your 'mitre vise' scheme - I think that any cramping device used has to span the entire width &/or height of the frame.

I'd be wanting to glue up a lot more than one window a day! How about seven at a time, left cramped up overnight? It's the easiest part of the job - you've still got all the cleaning up & fitting to do afterwards. Phew.

 

[BruceK]

Thanks again.
I do like the idea of doing a few in one go, though most of the windows will have 2 opening casements so 21 at a time might be a tad too many for me. I'm not sure if I'm interpreting your suggestions correctly though re. the ply webs. Would these be mounted on a solid baseboard or would a couple of bits of 4 x 2 do? I'd want to ensure that, as well as the frames being square, there's no danger of a 3 dimensional twist.

 

[HOJ]

@BruceK Do you have a link to the flat the pack web site, link doesn't work off the youtube site, trying to see how much you can save buying them this way, seems to be a fair bit of fettling still to be done.

 

[Jameshow]

How about a 8x4' mft which has a fixed stop on two sides and then threaded clamps on the other sides. Which will push the frame into the stops.

 

[rogxwhit]

I'm not sure if I'm interpreting your suggestions correctly though re. the ply webs. Would these be mounted on a solid baseboard or would a couple of bits of 4 x 2 do? I'd want to ensure that, as well as the frames being square, there's no danger of a 3 dimensional twist.

I would assume a flat assembly area of some kind - that's a basic need. It could be the floor, a table or bench, or anything that's stable and flat. You need something that doesn't shift about as you work through multiple repeating tasks.

How about a 8x4' mft which has a fixed stop on two sides and then threaded clamps on the other sides. Which will push the frame into the stops.

This kind of thing. The stops (blocks) on two adjacent sides bolted to form a right-angle register.

Trouble here is that the work occupies the clamping table until the glue has set and I wouldn't want to stress the joints too soon in case they went out of square. With separate clamping devices of some sort, if you have several sets you can keep moving glued & cramped assemblies off the table whilst you carry on gluing and clamping the rest of a batch.

 

[BruceK]

Some Good suggestions there. Thankyou once again. The link is
A mft table could be the way to go.

 

[HOJ]

@BruceK I checked the video out but still cant find where they sell them as "flatpacked" any other links you could offer?

 

[BruceK]

Type ''Flat Pack Sapele Window 900mm x 750mm Self Assembly Unassembled Solid Hardwood''
into Ebay for an example, but I've had a quote for my exact sizes.

 

[The Bear]

Well I've never seen flat pack windows before but they might be a solution to 2 new windows I need to make for my garage, will save a lot of time and planning. Out of interest how much extra did they quote for a bespoke size, over and above the nearest standard size?

Sorry cant help with a jig, I'd just use sash clamps

Mark

 

[BruceK]

Not sure really because they just gave me one price for all 27. I don't think it's a huge difference though. Hope it works for you. There's another company that sells flat pack with glass etc. You just need to fill in the details online for a price. KitWindows - Flat pack wooden windows, made to measure and delivered in 3-10 days
Bruce

 

[The Bear]

Thanks Bruce