Steve Quillian Gothic Sash in Mahogany

These gothic arch mahogany sash are for a client in south Tampa. Tomorrow we'll fit them in the openings that we installed at an earlier date so that we can stain these and install the glass.

Set up on these takes some time. First I drew them out full scale, doing all my math at once so as not to have to think about that anymore. After that it's simply working out a series of jigs to cut curves, mortises, tenons and other stuff.

One jig was inferior. I found out when I shot a piece of wood against the wall with my 3 horsepower shaper (a router on steroids). At first I thought it was just me, so attempting to hold it a little better, I shot it against the wall again. The loud bang has a way of getting your attention. Turns out I had the wrong nails in my gun and the tool I built to hold the wood in place wouldn't stay in place itself.

The sash went pretty smoothly once all the jigs were set up and then I ended up a piece or two short. Some mathematician. I can do trigonometry but can't count up how many pieces are in a window. So waiting until the end to make the pieces I was short, I milled them up and put 'em together.

But we're not done yet. Still have to make sure they fit in the morning and the stain them three times with lacquer in between on one side and some special UV stuff on the other side. No simple task. But it won't be long now!

So we put them in the trailer and when I arrived back at the house today I asked my wife if she'd take my picture with them so you'd know I was at least involved with making these fine gothic arched sash from mahogany.

If any of you readers want or need woodwork with a radial twist involved, let me know. I'll ship it anywhere in the US - you pay the shipping.