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whats best way to remove old putty from steel frame window with 9 2’x3′ lites? Do the router type bits in drill motor work well?
thanks
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Maybe I'm missing something here, but a router? Seems to me to be overkill.
I have done this many, many times. I just use a utility knife with a new blade. Score along the mullion, and again flat against the glass. Keep working the score lines deeper 'til they connect. Peel away old putty.
*Old putty in steel windows can be rock hard. I assume you are not trying to save the glass, as there is no way to do that. Try a propane torch to soften the putty then scrape or use a chisel.
*I tried a demo of the bit at a show...it worked there.J
*I've used a heat pplate - like for paint stripping - using one edge to shield the glass. Some have reported using paint stripper but no direct experience with that. And I've seen a special heatplate that is long and narrow with special shields.
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The experience that I've had with steel frames was that they have a wire clip that is used like a glazing point inserted into small holes on the frame at a regular interval. If your frames have these, I would think that they would eat into any bits that you might use. We ended up using hammer and chisel knowing where to detour to avoid the clips (I'm sure there's a name for them that's more official than that).
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When faced with a particularly onerous task of re-puttying numerous small pained windows, my father-in-law gave me a special knife that he had from his working days as a painter. He called it a
i hacking knife (?)
Picture a thick wooden handled flatware(dinner) knife,(8"+/-) with one edge sharpened (but not pointed) and the other edge knurled back to form a striking surface about 1/8"-3/16" thick. By holding the sharpened edge against the putty, and tapping the striking surface with a hammer one can peel offf the most rock hard putty in small chunks. Until you get the angle just right it plays hell with wooden muntin bars, and would probably dull up on metal ones. Try a glaziers supplier for such a tool!!!
*Patrick, a hacking knife(in some form or other) used to used to be a staple in old style shops. Lee Valley sold one until a couple of years ago. Speaking of Lee Valley, I bought a gizmo from them called a putty chaser. It has a carbide cutter on a steel dowel which mounts in a drill, with a handle/guide just above the cutter. it is supposed to guide itself along the sash and chop out the putty, but not the wood. They tell you to use it only on dry, sound wood (for good reason, as it can take a deep bite into anything soft).Most of the places where I would use it don't have dry, sound wood, so I don't use it much. It might work really well on metal, though, if you want to go the gizmo route. A heat gun and utlity knife are my standbys though.
*AdrianNice guy. . . throw the Lee Valley tip at me and off I go to the bookshelf to look through my collection of their catalogues, those whose pages aren't permanently stuck together from drool. . . couldn't find a i hacking knifeand wonder at them selling such a i utilitariantool. . . if they did it probably had a rosewood handle with brass inlay and a tooled leather sheath, LOL.Are the lobster ready yet???-Patrick
*Sorry about that , Patrick, the operative word is USED to.It is in their 90/91 catalogue, couldn't find it after that but may have missed it.It is actually pretty utilitarian, 1/4" blade, sort of rough around the edges,designed to be hammered on, sold for $7.95 can.Looking through the back issues is kinda scary; lots of useful things that just aren't available even through them anymore.The season hasn't started yet; I'll put you down for a dozen (we keep the small, sweet "shack" lobsters for ourselves, sell the big tough ones to the Upper Canadians).And the crab is just as good, if not better.
*Come to think of it, on a steel window, I'd use an air chisel
*By the way, Patrick, you wouldn't be a Stan Rogers kind of guy, would you? Ross? What about Algonquin alumni? Throw another crustacean on the barbie!
*AdrianWould that be Algonquin College, or Algonquin Park? I'm a Humber College Cabinet school grad, and have spent many moons paddling around in the Park, but never did the college. . . do like Stan Rogers though!!. . . Couldn't find thei hackerin my 88/89 Lee Valley catalogur,seem to have mislaid the 89/90.-P
*Strypeze (paint stripper) works well. It is also greeat at removing old caulk. Just be careful what surfaces it touches
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hey air chizel sounds good-but yeah I really can't expect to save glass, I was trying to be neat about it but the last one I did like this I just put frame on driveway and crashed all the panes and cleaned up the mess and then bandsawed the frame into small pieces. This is fastest even considering cleanup but also messy. It is a big window and old putty except for a couple replacements five years ago. Just for grins might try the bit in drill motor for future use info but if it is mucho bucks will just stomp away.
thanks
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It sounds crazy, but I often use my Dremel tool to remove putty. I usually use one of the steel cutting bits, and if the putty's really hard, I use one of the tungsten structured-tooth cutting bits, which cut through anything, and don't bind up.
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whats best way to remove old putty from steel frame window with 9 2'x3' lites? Do the router type bits in drill motor work well?
thanks