Custom
Magazine
Millwork Step by Step at Oakleigh Custom Woodworks
By Bill Esler
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This board is for the vertical muntins. The Laguna CNC machine is cutting the half joints where the horizontal will join to the vertical using a halving joint. After this process the board will be ripped into individual muntins.
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More assemblies drying in the sun.
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This jig makes an concave cope cut on the end of the muntin bar where it meets the convex part of the inner arch.
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The blanks for the outer arch and the inner arches ready for finger-jointing and profiling.
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Gluing up the lattice that comprises the muntin bars.
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Much better with a concave cope cut!
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The CNC machine is cutting out the arch
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This MDF blank was cut on the CNC machine and was used to assemble the arch components.
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Vertical muntins being profiled, after the half-joint and V notch
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Inner arch mounted to jig for profiling of concave side.
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Outer arch mounted on jig for concave profile.
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Lower section of window in glue up. The stiles and rails are joined with shop made #8 Festool Dominos. The domino slots on the stiles were cut on the CNC machine. The slots in the ends of the muntins were plunged using the Festool Domino Machine.
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All of the finished sub-assemblies were painted in our spray booth.
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Outer arches after coming off the CNC machine
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Assemblies drying after being painted.
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The final glazed window weighed some 700lbs! We used a shop made cart to move the windows. We slid dowels under the window and pivoted on the edge of the assembly table sliding over the dowels. The air assist forklift was essential.
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Vertical muntins being notched. Two muntins are held down side-by-side on custom vacuum pods. After the top cut the muntins will be turned over to cut the other v notch. These muntins will have had three separate operations on the CNC so accurate placement of the material was critical to making these joints.
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The outer arch of each window was made up of 4 straight pieces finger jointed and glued with epoxy. These special clamps were used to pull the joints tightly together while the glue set up.
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Each window had three sub-structures connected by finger joints. Here the first and second elements are being glued and clamped. The assembly table is a shop made torsion-box construction.
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Here is the arch in clamps. Note the special Italian clamps to pull the finger joints together.
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Completed window on its transport dolly. We used this to move them around and for transporting to the job site.
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Here is the completed arch blank sitting on the Laguna CNC machine. A plywood spoilboard (in the rough shape of the arch) was held down with 5 vacuum pods and the arch blank was held to the spoilboard with double sided tape
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Profiling the convex side of the inner arch. The jig had to be made in 2 parts. The upper part was made and the counter profile added so as to support the profiled piece. The jig was mated to the lower portion so it could rub along the bearing.
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The CNC machine is cutting out the arch
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Another view of the jig holding the workpiece for the convex part of the inner arch.
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Window being winched into position and pushed against the outer stop beads.
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Manhandling the transept window into position. Placing the finished windows in the openings took an a lot of strength.
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This demonstrates how a straight cope on the muntin leaves an unsightly gap where it meets the convex part of the arch.

 

Hastings and Anne Read, owners of Oakleigh Custom Woodworks won a 14-window replacement project for the Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, AL.

Most of Oakleigh’s work centers around Mobile’s famous Dauphin Street historic area where homes and businesses are always in need of authentic wood detailing. Among  projects were replacement windows for the Mobile Bay Lighthouse, retail shop windows, and gates, fencing, railings, windows, and doors for nearby homes.

Oakleigh’s process for the windows included custom cross-lap joints, in which continuous vertical and horizontal muntins (rather than single pieces) are notched at each intersection to create a lattice for stronger joints, as well as Low-E glass and Accoya wood, which resists rot and swelling.

“It shows how to compete for business on something other than price,” Hastings says. “This is a case study in how to get the customer away from the price and focusing on the overall benefits.” Read the rest of the story about Oakleigh Custom Woodworks.

With 14 windows measuring 54 inches wide by 21 feet high, the church was Oakleigh’s most ambitious project to date. Replicating the historic windows they replaced, each new unit includes 56 double panes of glass, each with 1/16-inch clearance. The team built a prototype window at full width and partial height to determine a precise construction method.

The windows’ 27 individual and interchangeable parts were made in advance then assembled at one time; each length was made into three subcomponents, then finger-jointed into the final window. To create the arched panes, Hastings made blanks from four pieces of Accoya wood then cut the arches on the CNC machine. All construction,including glazing and painting, was completed in house.

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