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Working windows start out with extra clearance because everything you do to them adds to the tightness of the sash in the groove, and if anything, the challenge is to keep them from getting too tight. When painting the sash you must keep the paint very thin and sanding after the first coat is critical. Test the sash in the frames before re-assembly and sand as necessary to avoid having to force the sash to fit. I do not paint the grooves in the frames at all, although they can be dyed or stained with a penetrating, non-water stain if it is a complimentary color... I keep some white stain (right now I have Minwax 'Simply White') for just that reason. Other builders have recommended the dyes from Dharma trading company, so I got some to try using alcohol as a solvent but I haven't had occasion to use them yet. There is also a huge rainbow of sharpie markers that I use for details of every kind, and they could be used here. They do not add dimension to where they are used so they won't add to the tightness of the fit. |
Latex paint sets but doesn't fully harden for a very long time, so painted surfaces can marry when they are pressed together, and wax helps prevent that. It's another reason to not latex-paint the grooves, but other points of contact are inevitable so I wax the sash with furniture wax or rub with waxed paper to keep that from happening.
I use bee's wax, 'QuikStik', or 'Museum Wax' to stick the windows up or to adjust the stickyness of the track. Just a little dot in the groove when the sash is part-way up, then push it the rest of the way up gives firm holding but it never hardens so the sash remains moveable. If you don't have bees wax available or a vintage candle stub to use, yellow furniture paste wax may be the right consistency; but a tin of wax-for-holding is a handy tool to have when hanging pictures and sticking down decorations anyway, so it's my first recommendation to make the windows do what you want them to do. |
