I went to look at a job in Manchester at the VA Hospital. On the property, a stone tower was built in 1888 by then N.H. Gov. Frederick Smyth. It had fallen into disrepair and squirrels had taken up residence. Because the tower was on the National Register of Historic Places, it was essential to maintain as much of the original sashes as possible. In total, 22 sashes and 7 porthole windows were in need of complete restoration. We started in February of 2017.
Some individual parts were beyond repair. But thanks to the manner in which traditional sashes were crafted, replacement pieces can be incorporated into the original sash. (This is not possible with new construction windows. When one piece fails, the entire unit requires replacement.) New knives and router bits were custom-made to match the original profiles and new pieces were milled from FSC Red Cedar.
(Continued in Part two)