windows

[cgutha]

Yes, I assume these were roll formed one hundred years ago. But who has the dies?

[cgutha]

Hi everyone,
I wish to thank, once again, the person who wrote "Replacement windows are called replacement windows because they require replacing every twenty years."
I found a PDF file describing my windows. "Monarch Metal Weather Stripping St Louis" written 1924.

https://ia600409.us.archive.org/27/item ... rStrip.pdf

These describe the weather stripping accurately (p37 and 36) along with details of infiltration testing (p30). (Roughly half that of other windows.) It also details the proper calking techniques and material used. (zinc, copper, Sothern yellow pine) Interestingly, the company was founded in 1906, the year my building was built.
I am trying to learn what happened to the company. This is difficult because others have taken on the name.
ceg

[cgutha]

By the way, I built extension jams to match the new wall depths. I filled the pocket with Styrofoam then added "Great Stuff" to complete the seal. I cannot tell when the wind blows. Keeping the old windows was indeed the correct choice. Only a few need parts rebuilt. Next summer I will continue re-stringing the counterweights and making the top portion operable. (These were nailed shut)
ceg

[Lily left the valley]

Great find on the PDF. Looking forward to next summer's status reports.

[phil]

By the way, I built extension jams to match the new wall depths. I filled the pocket with Styrofoam then added "Great Stuff" to complete the seal. I cannot tell when the wind blows. Keeping the old windows was indeed the correct choice. Only a few need parts rebuilt. Next summer I will continue re-stringing the counterweights and making the top portion operable. (These were nailed shut)
ceg

glad to hear you made some progress. I guess you extended the frames so the wall thickness wasnt' an issue?
in my living room I used that newer ISO board. The guy I got it from showed me what he was doing so I did the same. I cut it with a handsaw to fit the stud bays, then spray a bead of foam down either side of the ISO board near each stud.. Then I take a piece of plastic and lay that up there and screw pieces of old fence boards. Thats so the ISO board can't shift and try to pop out. . after its dry the "Great stuff" doesn't stick to plastic so that pulls off leaving the insulation as tight as if it were spray foamed. I did my whole living room this way in an attempt to cut down the traffic noise. also used soundproof drywall.. It worked pretty well now I can her the TV I still need to replace the baseboards and trim.. I pulled all mine out for the reno and i did strip it all. thats on hold for now.. I need to refit the baseboards and trim out the places where there were plugs in the baseboards.. but I finished the drywall right to the floor and up against the windows etc so it doesn't look so bad in the meantime. Id rather take the wood parts outside for a final sanding and finishing, than make clouds in my cramped shop sanding it all.

I think there are better sound insulators than the ISO board but it has a good R rating. I like using it now but I adn't heard of it when I began my house. Now I notice you can get 1" x 4x8 sheets as wel as other thicknesses. It has a foil on it that takes the place of a vapor barrier. I wondered about putting it near the roof as it could be installed in a similar way but with an inch or so gap for the roofing to cool then I might need a ridge vent so it didn't trap the heat.

[phil]

Yes, I assume these were roll formed one hundred years ago. But who has the dies?

the dies just look like rollers and you mount them on the shafts. I guess they usually come from the same vendor. I could easily turn different ones and it takes a little trial and error to get everything set up right.. By the time you do that it would be easier to just buy the stuff like you did . The ones I work on do stuff like making the joiner strips for heat ducts or they sometimes corrugate the edges of sheet metal. Its used by sheet metal guys doing commercial ducting.. they make up custom plenums and stuff. You can easily buy the parts for a house but when they get into commercial stuff the larger sheet metal parts are often custom made for the task.

[cgutha]

I built a "Wire knife" to cut my Styrofoam. it uses NIckel CAdmium wire that heats when electricity is applied. So I cut any size piece I need without all the beads flying around.

ISO does have a higher R rating, so does the Pink stuff. But the price is 3x higher. at 3 1/2 inches, the cheap white stuff is still an R14.

My house is quiet. The train goes by, sometimes it shakes, sometimes not. otherwise, I do not hear it. In the summertime, My wife likes the windows open. That is a different story.

have talked with a number of window manufacturers. no one seems to want to make this. The patent has run out and as far as I can tell it is far superior to anything on the market today. Sure it does not need to be made of tin, extrude it from plastic. quick simple, there are several different kinds of plastic. I'm certain one could find the best plastic that will wear and remain flexible.

I have seen roller jigs. some are thirty feet long.

Having completed the room for my wife and myself, I now turn my attention back to the second floor remodel. I insulated it last summer and (without heating it) it is still comfortable enough to work in. even with a month of -30 temps, it never froze upstairs. The windows however did frost up making a formidable seal.

ceg

[phil]

any progress with the seals? I could ask the tinsmiths in sheet metal if they know of a way to create them , maybe using a hand process?
a machine could certainly roll them out but the setup for a limited run might not make that idea profitable. I wonder if one could take a mold off , then make a female mold from that and squish them together to form the shape? but then it would want to spring back. or maybe there is like a hand operated roller that could make the contour? these guys have a myrid of old forming rolls, a lot of them are hand operated and look like they are very old and beautifully made.

the brake presses have different dies and they could form shapes but the shape looks pretty specific. maybe a simple machine with a hand crank could form the shape from flat metal? maybe it would have to happen in stages, not sure but it got me thinking. don't some doors use rubber seals with a similar sort of shape? looks like a threshold or something. I re read and you already said they weren't too bad and you thought you could just straighten them out a little so maybe that's best.

remember if you heat brass or copper and then quench it, it gets soft, let it cool slowly it gets harder. the metallurgy works pretty much the opposite of steel. you could use that to your advantage perhaps. remove harness, work the shape , then re harden it. test on something you don't care about. plumbers do that sometimes to create bends more easily. the metal might be specific too Spring bronze I think has different alloys to make it springy but probably works the same way with heat and cooling. You of course can't change the metallurgy beyond what heating and cooling can do to it. it might have some silicon to make it springy and bronze might be brass and nickle.
real true copper is quite soft, usually alloys are added to make it harder or maybe to use less of the copper, like in the common shark fittings and plumbing parts. some of that bronze seems quite brittle I suspect due to "cheapening alloys" to stretch out the more expensive metals.

[cgutha]

I'm pretty certain this is tin. Many of the seals are in good shape, some are worn. I will need to make a count later.