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Stained glass frame was nailed to the wall
Stained glass frame broke into many pieces when removed prior to wrecking ball
All of Venus’ skills and help from Wood Shop Scottie
Helped put stained glass frame back together again.
The picture to the left was taken prior to demo. I was able to get the stain glass out for repair without removing the frame, but when it came time for drywall I had no choice but to remove it also. I started with a crowbar and the dried wood started cracking immediately. I then pulled out my reciprocating saw and didn’t fair much better. End result about 15 pieces.
Why I waited months after it came down to start putting it together I don’t know, but I didn’t start gluing pieces together until just weeks before my move. The base of the frame was originally in two pieces; a right and left half to create the oval. The outer trim was originally in four pieces, a top and bottom to each side, so basically my goal was to get back to 6 pieces and then down to the two halves. I glued small pieces together first and used my pin nailer to hold them in place. In the final stages of the project I regretted my over use of nails. I should have invested in more clamps.
With relative ease I got all the smaller pieces back together and I felt I was ready for stain, which I did before nailing the trim to the base. On side the trim stayed in tack with the base except for a section where the base and trim had broken off. The other side the base basically shattered, but the two pieces of trim stayed whole. With the shattered half back together I was ready to reattach the trim and the top was a perfect fit. The bottom trim did not and I assumed the weeks of separation and improper storage caused it to warp. I did days of online research about bending wood, but ultimately decided to clamp it and slowly tighten. When the trim met the base I filled it with nails and held my breath when I removed the clamps. Initially huge success. I turned my sights to the other half.
It appeared I had lost a small slither of would, so I got the brillant (NOT) idea of using 2-part epoxy to fill most of the void and then used a product called Quickwood, on top in hopes it would blend with the wood. Quickwood is a putty epoxy that looks like a tootsie roll with the flavor in the center. You cut off the amount you need, kneed it until the two colors are thoroughly mixed, and then press it into the area of repair. Once it was hard I sanded it down until it was smooth with the original surface. The experiment worked and I had two halves ready for hanging, but they no longer lined up. One side was about a half inch longer. Time to take this project to the Wood Shop and ask Scottie for help.
I had to remove the trim again, which brought into realization that I used way too many nails. Nails are a detriment to some tools in a wood shop so I had to work to get as many out
as possible. Of course I broke a perfectly good section of the outer trim in the process. Also the initial huge success I had with clamping and forcing the trim to bend created a stress crack on the base. This project was taking many steps backwards.
Scottie decided my best option was to make the base one piece and had me go to Home Depot for mending plates which we screwed and glued to the back of the frame. We also took a very sharp chisel and removed my epoxy experiment. Turns out I probably had not lost the piece. We used the stress crack and the re-separation of my epoxy mend to make sure the two halves met and secured the plate with screws and Gorilla glue at the seam. He advised that I should let that sit overnight, so this project was going to take another week.
Turns out at my next wood shop class I was a solo act, so we got to focus on the frame. With the two sides meeting properly the next tackle was making sure the trim would fit. Scottie has a great eye and was able to see if we shaved a little bit of one piece with a jigsaw and sand another part with the belt sander that everything would meet. I did everything he suggested and we used two more mending plates and wood glue to secure my former epoxy spot and the new stress crack I created. Another overnight drying period, so the finish would need to wait for open shop.
Everything dried and I finally had a complete frame. I was good to go home and stain, but Scottie saw and knew that I could make it better by using the Quickwood to fill where I had slight separation at some of the mended spots and to fill the original and new nail holes I created. He showed me the proper way to apply it, so I wouldn’t have to spend as much time sanding. The trick is moist fingers to help smooth and push it into the crevices you’re trying to fill. I was fearful of breaking it again, but I took his advice and spent the bulk of open shop fine tuning.
Once back home I added the Quickwood to a few more areas and sanded it more. After sweeping away the heavy dust, I used a Gerson TACK cloth (my neighbor Bill hooked me onto these) to remove all the fine dust. I applied a coat of Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner (mainly because I had it and thought it couldn’t hurt) and then applied the custom Zar color stain, again. I just stood back in awe, it was beautiful. I decided to add a couple of coats of Minwax Polycrylic too. I love working with that product and can’t wait to tackle my built-in.
While that dried it was time for me to deal with the drywall around the window casing. It protruded beyond the casing, which meant I’d have a gap between the wall and the frame. This situation is with most of the windows in the house. Plaster could be spread to fill where it was needed, so some areas were thicker than others. Drywall doesn’t give you that play, so I have some windows where it protrudes and others where it recesses.
My favorite handyman, Tom Milfeld, just happened to see me in the yard, so I had him help me trace a line around the areas with the gaps and he suggested I use my Ridgid JobMax tool to remove the drywall and that is exactly what I did. It actually created the perfect ledge for the frame to rest in, so hanging it by myself was really easy. After getting the frame up I also put the back boards back around the built-in bench. I can’t be more pleased with how this turned out. Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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