Putty

[Adrian Simpson]

I opened up my tub of putty today to find that it had all gone solid. Can I bring it back to life, or is it destined for the bin ?

TIA

Adrian

[NT]

If its linseed, its likely there may be some thats not 100% rock hard in there. If you can dig it out it can be softened with linseed oil or, oddly, water. But anything totally hard is unsalavageable.

NT

[Adrian Simpson]

Thanks, it is Linseed, I'll have a dig.

Adrian

[Frank Stacey]

bring it back to life, or is it destined

Is there some modern material which replaces putty? My own attempts at using putty, for glazing, finish with my hands an oily sticky mess and he job doesn't look very good either.

Frank

[Phil L]

you are preparing the putty incorrectly, or not at all

it should be kneaded like dough, and some of the oil removed if it is too sticky, this is easily done by rolling it out on newspapers or cardboard until the correct consistency is acheived. It should be rolled and kneaded so that it's all the same consistency - no lumps of hard stuff, nor any pockets of oil. A thin bead of putty should be applied to the rebate by thumb, making sure there are no misses, then the glass offered up to the opening and rubbed firmly into the bead of putty, rubbing along the edges and not applying pressure to the centre of the pane, nor should the glass be slapped or thumped into the putty. Once pinned in with panel pins, the exterior rebate should be pointed by applying a thick bead of putty all around and roughly shaped by hand, then finished off with a putty knife, taking care in the corners not to cut into the adjacent bead.

Another way of glazing windows is by using silicone and wooden beads, these are excellent if installed correctly but they rarely are, the correct way is to apply a bead of silicone to the rebate and glaze as above, then apply another bead to the edges of the glass and nail in the wooden beads, but more often than not, people apply this second bead to the timber and stick the bead down into it - this leaves a slight gap between glass and bead that fills up with water that is trapped there because of the silicone under the bead, resulting in rotted bead and/or frame within a very short time.

People do it this way because it's quicker and you don't end up with any silicone on the glass, but it's a bodge IMV and I would rather spend a few hours the following day cutting silicone away from the frames and know I'd done a good job, than do half a job badly.

[Jules Richardson]

There's silicone stuff which comes in a cartridge, but I found it really difficult to work with - far more so than putty (I'm adept at sealing round bathtubs etc., but the technique needed is obviously slightly different). Went back to putty after doing a few panes with the gloopy stuff.

cheers

Jules

[stuart noble]

Acrylic putty is your man

[NT]

[e-mail]...

n I bring it back to life, or is it destined

sticky mess and he job doesn't look very good

Wet the knife to smooth the putty.

NT

[george [dicegeorge]]

yes.

[Frank Stacey]

thanks for all that Frank