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Hi, this is Andrew with Infinity Cutting Tools. Today, I'm going to show you how I make wooden
window sash here in our shop using the Infinity standard window sash router bit set.
Before we get started, I want to take a second to talk about the different parts of the window.
In this case, the entire thing is known as the window sash. The two vertical pieces that
make the sides of the window are known as the stiles. The top and bottom piece of the
window sash are known as the rails. And the division bars that divide the pieces of glass
are known as the muntin or muntin bars.
Now that we know what all the pieces of our window sash are called, we're ready to determine
the length, width, and thickness of those pieces. I know that my window sash needs to
be 1-3/8" thick. The Infinity standard window sash set will allow you to make windows from
1-3/8" thick to 1-5/8" thick. So this is an important dimension. I also know that I need
my sash to measure 18" wide by 24" long and that my rails and stiles need to measure 2-1/4"
wide. My muntin bars also need to measure 3/4" wide.
Now that I know those dimensions, I can go about figuring out how long all my pieces
need to be. My stiles are easy, they're the full length of the window so they're going
to be 24" long.
My rails and horizontal muntin bars need to be a bit shorter because they're housed within
the stiles. To figure out how long those need to be, take the overall width of the window,
which is 18", and subtract 2-1/4 from each side, which is 4-1/2, and that gives me 13-1/2".
Now I need to add back the dimension of my profile, which is 1/4" on each side, which
gets me back out to 14". And then I need to add the length of the tenon on each side.
For my window, it's 1", which is 2", giving me an overall length of my rail and horizontal
muntin bar of 16".
I can use the same formula to figure out how long my vertical muntin bar needs to be. In
my case, on a 24"-tall window, it will be 22" long.
The final thing we need to determine before we head over to the table saw, is where in
our rails and muntin bars our tenon needs to be. To determine this, I work from the
back side of the window. I know that my window needs to have a 1/2"-deep rabbet to hold my
glass, so I know that the back of the tenon also needs to be 1/2 of an inch from the
surface of my rails and stiles.
I also know that my tenon needs to be 1/4 of an inch thick, which means that it needs
to be 5/8 of an inch from the face of the window on my 1-3/8"-thick sash.
I'm ready to start cutting the tenons in my rails and muntin bars. To do this, I'm over
here at the table saw, and I'm going to be using an Infinity Dadonator dado set. I've
got roughly a full stack on the saw. And I've got my fence set to one inch. Remember, we
decided we wanted a 1"-long tenon, so the fence setting is going to determine that length.
I also have my dado set for a 5/8"-deep cut, and this is going to be the cut on the face
side of our rails and muntins.
With those settings, I'm ready to start making my tenons.
Now that the first cut is made, I'm ready to lower my dado set to a half inch depth
of cut. I'm leaving my fence setting the same. And I can cut now the back side of my tenons
and create that 1/4"-thick tenon.
The final step in creating our tenon is to leave the dado and the fence exactly where they
are and simply turn the rail up on edge and dado away a half of an inch from the width
of our tenon.
With my tenons cut, I'm ready to lay out the location of my mortises. I can use the tenon
itself to locate the ends of my mortises. And I'm going to use a wheel marking gauge
to help define the sides of my mortises.
So I'm referencing off of the edge to make sure I'm located in the correct place, and
I'm marking the ends of my mortise.
Now I'm going to use the tenon to set up my wheel marking gauge for the face of my rail.
Then I can use the back side of my tenon to set up and mark the opposite side.
Okay, now I can mark out the area for my waste.
I can use the same procedure to mark out the location of the mortises for my muntins. And
mark the waste with an "X."
To make my mortises I'm over here at the drill press. I'm using a 7/32"-diameter drill bit.
That'll leave me just a little bit on each side of my mortise to clean up with a chisel.
I've set up a quick fence to support my workpiece and make sure that I have my holes drilled
down the centerline of my mortise. And I've set my depth of drilled hole to 1-1/4" deep.
This will ensure that I have the right-depth mortise for my tenons.
To finish up my mortises, I'm using a couple different sizes of Narex bench chisels and
a mortise chisel to clean out the waste.
I also have my tenon here handy so I can use it to check the fit as I go.
I've got a scrap piece of plywood. I'm going to use this as a zero-clearance fence for
making my cope cuts on the ends of my rails and muntin bars.
What this allows me to do is support my tenon as I pass it through. Because the tenon is
so far from the face that we're cutting, I want to be able to support that piece all
the way through the cut.
We're ready to make our cope cuts at the router table. I've got my coping bit set up in the
router and I'm going to use the tenon that we created at the table saw to set the bit
height. I want to make sure that the cutter just brushes the underside of my tenon.
I'm also using my sacrificial fence, which will support the end of my tenon. And to set
that fence setting, I'm going to use my square and ensure that the bit is 1-1/4" from the
fence. This will give me the correct cope depth.
Finally, I'm going to be using my miter gauge to support my workpiece as I feed it through.
If, for some reason, my fence is not parallel to my miter track, I can make an adjustment
on my miter gauge to ensure that my tenon is square to the fence. And, because I'm using
my sacrificial fence, as long as I ensure that my tenon stays in contact, I know that
I'm going to get the proper depth of cut.
I'm also going to be using a backer block to help ensure that I don't get any blowout
at the exit of the bit.
Before I take my coping cutter out of the router, I want to bring my fence forward to
make a 1/4"-deep cut. And I want to use a piece of scrap material that's the same thickness
as my window sash and about 8" longer than my stiles. I'm going to make a cope cut, and
this is going to become a push block and a miter block for working on our muntin bars.
To finish up my push block, I need to remove this small square of material from above or
below the cope cut. I'm going to use the tenon from one of my rails to show me how tall that
cut needs to be. (It's actually going to be a perfect 1/4", the same as the tenon.) I
have an Infinity 1/4"-kerf flat-top blade set up in the table saw and I'm ready to remove
that bit of material.
To finish up my push block, I need to first cut about 8" off of the end and then miter
both sides of that offcut piece. This is going to be a tool to make it very easy to make
the miters for the intersection of our muntin bars.
I also need to take my push block and add a hook to the end of it so that when I put
my muntin bar in place, it hooks into that push block. It will also create a little zero-clearance
insert the first time I use it.
I'm ready to set up to make the profile cut in all my pieces. I've put my profile, or
sticking bit, into the router. And, I'm going to use the top of my tenon to set the bit
height. When the rabbeting cutter brushes the top of the tenon on the back side of my
rails and stiles, I know that the bit is set to the proper height. I can then use a ruler
and the bearing at the center of the bit to set my fence. With that, I'm ready to make
the cuts in all my pieces.
I've used a couple pieces of double-sided tape to stick my muntin bar to the flat side
of my push block and I'm ready to make my cut.
The first step in making the joint between the muntin bars is to make a 1/4" groove across
the profile portion of the muntin bar. To make this groove, I'm going to be using an
Infinity flat-top blade at the table saw. I'm going to be using my miter gauge to support
my workpiece as I feed it through the blade.
With my notches cut in my muntin bars, I'm back over here at the workbench. I have my
push block clamped in my vise on my bench and it's holding my muntin bar. And I have
my 45-degree angle block that I made earlier clamped to the top of my muntin bar. I've
positioned it so that the 45-degree angle just meets the inside edge of the notch I
just made. I'm ready to simply pare away the excess material to create my 45-degree miter.
I know I'm done when my miter meets the bottom of my notch.
The final step in creating the joint in our muntins is to make a notch halfway through
our muntin bars. On one side we need to cut from the face and on the other side cut from
the back.
With that last cut, our muntins should be ready to go together, so let's give them a try.
There we go.
If the joint is a little tight and doesn't want to go together, take your time, go back
to the bench and use the miter block and your chisel to fine-tune the fit.
The final step in finishing up our stiles is to remove this little block of material
at the end of our mortise. To do this, I could use a back saw, a fine-tooth hand saw, or
simple grab a sharp chisel.
With all of our joinery cut, we're ready to do a dry fit and final assembly. After that,
all that's left is your finish of choice and we're ready for glass.
If you're interested in making windows that are thinner than 1-3/8 of an inch, we have
a router bit set specifically for that. It's the Infinity window sash junior router bit
set. And you can stay tuned for a video specifically for the differences in construction between
using that bit set and the standard Infinity window sash router bit set.
Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our blog for even more information
on the projects we make and the tools we use here in the Infinity Tools shop.