OK - how do fix this wooden frame?

IME there is often an initial shrinkage of the wood, due to its not getting wet any more. Once that hairline gap is filled, there isn't any further movement

Not so. wood moves all the time, so a flexible filler is a must.

E.g. I couldn't shut the e garden gate yesterday - the wooden rails had shrunk enough to pull the latch post just too far for the latch to work :-)

for sealing frames, you need - FRAME SEALER. a sort or rubbery mastic that is flexible enough not to crack and available in suitable colours.

On Thursday 18 July 2013 13:22 The Natural Philosopher wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Aside from the damaged bits (which I will use the various good advice earlier) - do you reckon, for the long thin gaps between good wood sections (gaps are about 2mm) - would ramming acrylic frame sealant perhaps be the best approach?

yes, though 3-4mm is better...if its exterior woodwork, you wont get a better time thatn right now with very low external humidity. or a crisp autumn day.

RH is down around 40% at the moment..

If I say "in my experience", and you say "not so", I guess that makes me a liar? The degree to which old timber moves depends on how exposed it is to airflow. IN MY EXPERIENCE exterior joinery does not significantly re-expand after filling, I suppose because at least half of it faces the masonry.

I say not so because in my experience which in a self built timber house, is not inconsiderable, wood is never stable under changing humidity.

If you have been lucky enough to not have it affect you, fine, but the text books say exactly what my experience shows. Up to 1% summer to winter along the grain and maybe 3% across.

mmm thinking on I was using rather large amounts of it to rebuild sash winda cills etc 'til i realised I was better off ripping the crappy old ones out and fitting some new oak ones in - problem solved ;>)

Jim K

On Thursday 18 July 2013 21:40 Jim K wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Well, I have the PU glue, the Gorilla glue, the filler on order and some frame sealant.

And fresh blades for the Fein :)

I'll tackle each bit as seams best - bigger more mouldy bits will get some wood spliced in. Smaller bits filled. Gaps sealed.

Next: buy (finally) a nice random orbit sander....

o lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded wit h goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing nu mber of producers.

Wood expansion generally occurs across the grain. It is also dependent on t he grain structure on the cross section. (Quarter sawn boards being the mos t stable)So it appears possible that you are both right.

Anyway in my experience the filler fell out and where it didn't fall out ga ps appeared.YMMV

I did a mate's windows which were a mixture of sound wood and the occasional soggy mushy bit. I found the carbide rasp in the Fein riped away at the soggy stuff until down to solid wood - it was then an easy job to fill.

I wonder whether I should get a better one (got a Bosch PEX400 at the mo). What have you been looking at?

(although for windows, I expect the fein will be more useful in the sanding department)

On Friday 19 July 2013 20:03 John Rumm wrote in uk.d-i-y:

That's an idea - I will try that.

The PEX400 based on your recommendation from a while back ;->

My frames have no mouldings (thank god) and are large areas of flatness :)

Its certainly "ok" - although some of the time I think it might be nice to have a 4" version for furniture projects. The main thing that seems to improve on better ones is vibration control.

Yup, that does help.

The PEX is very good on that sort of stuff - stick a 40 or 60 grit on it to start with, and use a relatively low speed (say 2 ish) and it hogs off old finish and stuff nicely. If you work down through the grits doing the bulk of the work with the coarse one, then just using the next each time to clean up the scratch marks from the previous grit.