Repair 107 year old sash cord

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Graham,

Your screen replacement strategy sounds like a good plan.

The Silky Oak timber (as you state) is almost certainly Northern Silky Oak, not Southern Silky Oak. Northern Silky Oak (Cardwellia sublimis) came to replace Australian Cedar after 1900 because we wasteful people had cut down the vine forests and (almost) exhausted the commercial supply of cedar, whereas at that time the North Queensland rainforests had been opened up and had those massive Northern Silky Oaks just waiting to be cut down. As a bit of useless information: My father told me that most of those trees were cut out by the 1950's too, but because they were felled by the cutter standing on a board inserted in the trunk above the buttress level (making far less work to fell them) the original cutters had left lots of quite tall stumps and buttresses behind. The next wave of cutting came in the 1950's with powered saws/chainsaws and the wonderfully figured butt timber was released onto the market.

[graham.murfett]

Thanks for the info.
It's always good to get some knowledge of the origins of house timber.
Particularly start of the 20th century, when my house was built.

[graham.murfett]

It's been some time since I finished this window job, except for fitting the rosettes...
So, I thought I should post some 'what happened' pics, because without pics, it never happened

It was too expensive to get cutters made, then have FJ pine delivered, so I had to DiY

I had to make a negative to repair fill the borer and other age old damage to the 140mm arcs
IMG_3410.jpg

I tried many different fillers. Smooth coat worked better than all others. It was a PITA though
IMG_3414.jpg

Then sanding it back to shape
IMG_3415.jpg

IMG_3419.jpg

Be careful of wind & big windows! $140 & half a day to repair
IMG_3422.jpg

Restored pulleys
IMG_3464.jpg

Windows have never worked so easy!
It cost $34 for 40mm steel bar to replace the missing weight.
IMG_3472.JPG

Better than a bought one!
IMG_3474.jpg

It took 6 weeks, in between paying jobs, but we got there!
Thanks for all your input

[rwbuild]

A credit to you for patience, perseverance and attention to detail, an excellent result x10

[Xanthorrhoeas]

That is very impressive work and attention to detail. as rwbuild says, a credit to you indeed. You must have some skill with a CNC or similar to make those great acrylic patterns?

One thing to be wary of is that the original cast iron weights would not have rusted significantly (surface only) because iron is not very reactive with oxygen (in human lifetimes) But, once it has had carbon added to it to make steel it rusts rapidly and deeply. So, a steel weight will rust away badly unless you have cold galvanised or painted it.

[Fuzzie]

Admirable work! If it was me I would have been inclined to go with new reproduction 120mm architraves and added a outboard 20mm strip to make up the width.

[graham.murfett]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

That is very impressive work and attention to detail. as rwbuild says, a credit to you indeed. You must have some skill with a CNC or similar to make those great acrylic patterns?

I made the acrylic patterns with my bandsaw and hand files. It took a while, but I got there
It will take a while for rust to get through 40mm of steel bar. Especially in a dry environment.
I couldn't match the profiles, so I decided to repair, rather than have something different. Next time will be much quicker, now I've figured out what to do and made some tools to make life easier.
Let's hope I don't lose them!!!

[Fuzzie]

It looks pretty close to profile SA09, but granted it would take a bit of work to rip it down and widen to 140. However if you have a lot of windows to do with that much borer damage I'd be tempted...
Clipboard01.jpg

[graham.murfett]

Hi Fuzzie
The other problem with Finlaysons mouldings, is my arcs are also 1" thick.
Problematically, my doorways also have transom windows, so I would need 45+ feet (~15 metres) to replace all arcs just for one doorway. Even more for the entry & foyer doorways
So, whilst it may be easier to buy new, I can find spare time to repair, easier than I can find spare cash to replace.
Due to the potential effort required for each repair, I wont be repairing/restoring anything unless I have to. It's a situation of "if it aint broke..."
So until I need to repaint or repair, any borer holes or other disasters can stay hidden behind 100+ years of paint.
I do appreciate your interest though . It is a great example of an early Queenslander with some very ornate features.
Someone had some money, when it was commissioned to be built.

[Fuzzie]

Hi Graham. Yeah I know the time vs money equation. I was just trying to give a lead if you needed it. I've been down the same route a few times . Started on a Victorian terrace with BIG mouldings in Melbourne, then a 40's wartime number in Brisbane with wide stepped splayed mouldings. Now in a 70's house on the Gold Coast. You would think thinks get easier but they don't.

I'm in the process of replacing some worn out aluminium sliding doors and windows. Do you think I could find a couple of lengths or tongue and groove cypress flooring to patch around the door opening? They don't sell that anymore on the coast. Then there were the architraves to replace. In the 70's bullnose architrave was 45mm wide vs the current 42mm. The 42 wouldn't suite for a lot of reasons, and you can't even cut down 66mm arch because of the hollow moulded into the back.

Take care,