Gayus Wood

Installing new windows

We bought replacement windows for the 37 windows in our home some years ago, and I have been installing them slowly. We have decided to try and get them all installed before it gets too hot and buggy this summer. I am trimming the inside with stained and varnished oak and the outside with solid PVC that I then paint to match the vinyl on the outside of the windows. I decided that I needed to come up with a way to rip and joint the oak that did not require as much handling as what I have been doing. I would plane the wood to thickness, cut it to length slightly over sized, straight line cut one edge as best I could, joint the edge on the jointer, rip the wood slightly over size on the table saw, joint one edge on the jointer, rip to almost the final size on the table saw, and joint the other edge. This is just too much handling.

With the new process, I still have to plane the wood to thickness, but then things change. Since the lumber is usually 10-12 feet long, and 9-12 inches wide, I first cut the length down to nearly what I need. Using the EZ cut-off saw I built to compliment my miter and radial arm saws.



The required lengths for the trim are longer than I can rip with my PBB in its current configuration, I didnt feel like re configuring it, so I removed the bridge, clamped my Router Power Bench to the side of the PBB, and attached a longer bridge. This gives me about 7 1/2 of capacity. I then straight line one edge with the setup you see in the video below. Without moving the wood, I then joint the edge with my Bosch power planer attached to the new EZ SSRK (Super Smart Router Kit). I made a special mount to attach the planer to the SSRK.



Once I have all the wood straight-lined, I set the fence on the PBB to 1/32" over the width desired. Then the fun begins, I place the jointed edge of a board against the fence, rip the first piece. I then set the power planer to remove 1/64", and joint the edge with the power planer. It is then just a matter of placing the last cut-off or another board under the rail against the fence and ripping another piece. Once all the pieces of that width have been ripped and one side jointed, I reset the power planer to remove another 1/64". I then put the pieces back under the rail with the jointed edge against the fence, Joint them, and they ready to lightly sand, stain and varnish.