Sash Windows

Put the multimaster away, you shouldnt be cutting anything. Basic handtools are all it takes.

NT

In Victorian boxes there is normally a very thin strip of wood running the length (but only fixed at the top) that separates the two weights and stops them fouling each other. This might be damaged or broken.

If you remove the parting bead and the sash pocket (neither is normally fixed), all should be revealed.

Absolutely. The sash pocket is rebated into the box and there is no way of putting it back if you cut through the joint.

As a last resort you can always drill a 35mm plug hole towards the top of the box, which can then be covered with a kitchen hinge cover plate. I had to do this once where the weights jammed solid at the top, and there was no other way to get access

Fair comment! However, I also had in mind (but didn't mention in my previous post) the fact that my windows also have nailed-up shutters - will all the gaps painted over, so that you can't see where they are. The MultiMaster might just be useful for *those*.

In case anyone is interested, I have discovered since asking the question, that there is some interesting video on refurbishing sash windows on the Mighton site at :

Just put it back under the Xmas tree :-)

IME both are usually pretty firmly fixed - with decades of paint.

It might be helpful to remove (?all) the paint. If you decide to use a hot air gun, be careful; unless it has been stripped fairly recently, the bottom few layers of paint will be lead.

Then tap a 4" paint scraper along the edge with a hammer. Cuts through the paint but is thin enough not to damage the wood.

Number one fault =3D paint on the windows. Pull the bead "sash bead" off the inside edge and refit after replacing the middle "parting bead" if it breaks when you take it off to clean that or throw it away anyway. (Once you know you can get -and have got, replacement beads.)

Rub with candle wax before replacing.

Other likely causes Paint on the chord Stretched chord Nails sticking in the sash weight boxes. (They'd have to be really ham fisted fixers to do that.)