Got A Window Built

I originally titled this "Got A Window Finished", but I still have to deal with glass and paint so it's not really FINISHED finished. But the window frame is built, at least that part of the operation is done. 

Why am I building windows for the basement, a totally utilitarian space, or why am I not just buying windows? The answer to the first part is that, ultimately, I want to build windows to replace the originals on the main floor of the house and the basement is a pretty solid place to get some practice. 

The answer to the second part is that it would take a stupid amount of money to pay somebody else to make (9) 7' x 3' wood-framed windows for the main floor, and there's no good reason to pay somebody else to do what I already have the tools to do.  

All the basement windows, most of which have already been replaced once, look about like this:

The sash joints are coming apart:

The glazing is falling apart:

And even where things sort of appear to not be terrible, there are signs of deterioration; those little tiny holes are where nails were driven to keep the rail (the top, curved piece) attached to the stile (the vertical piece it connects to), and the glazing is no longer really doing its job. 

I'm using douglas fir as the lumber for the new window sashes; it's historically accurate and holds up to weather about as well as any readily available species of lumber. There's approximately 700 steps involved in building these things, but the short version starts with cutting big boards into smaller pieces that will become the sash rails and stiles:

Then it gets complicated, and the order of operations becomes wildly critical (I was reminded of this, painfully, during the first window-building effort that I ultimately scrapped). From this point forward, there really isn't any room for error.

​After a little bandsawing and a WHOLE lot of router work with this bit set: 

It's on to the hollow chisel mortiser to cut the mortises in the stiles. That's followed by some table sawing to cut the tenons in the rails, which results in this:

The tenons fit into the mortises and give the sashes some strength and rigidity. I wish I could have made the tenons a hair longer but with the tools I have and the sash geometry I couldn't really make the mortises any deeper. I felt pretty good after dry-fitting everything together (back/exterior side shown, that's the recess where the glass will go):

The trickiest cut of them all is getting that top arch cut just right. If the bottoms or sides are off, wood can be added and shaved. It's not desirable to have to go that route, but it's easy enough to do. That top curve...cutting an incorrect radius would be a disaster, which is never a good spot to be in at the tail end of a build.  

At this point I glued everything together, let the glue dry for 24 hours, shaved about a 1/2 inch off the bottoms of the sashes to get that lower rail the exact right height, rough cut the top arch on the bandsaw, literally spent about 2 hours (I really need a better jig for this) getting the router table setup dialed in for the final arch cut, crossed my fingers, held my breath, made the final cut, then tested the fit in the window jamb: 

She was a little snug, but I knew that was going to be the case. In spite of that, I was super happy with how things fit; I don't know that I could have measured, marked, and made that top arch cut any better of a fit. After some shaving on the sides and a little hinge pocket work, I got the sashes hung:

So far, so good. The glass has been ordered and I've got the glazing stuff ready to go, but I need to paint the sashes first. I'd like to get another one built before I start spraying paint, but the next one has an added wrinkle -- the arched jamb piece that I kept as-is from the original jamb, it's kinda off center and I'll have to figure out how to navigate the measuring and cutting that'll need to happen to match it. 

After that...still a long ways to go. I need to figure out how to make the brick mould that goes on the exterior side of the jamb, and then paint and caulk everything...but I think I'm off to a good start.