Applied wood grill for a window
I need to make an applied wood grill for a large window that was broken. The existing grill is made of pine roughly 3/4" square stock. The intersections are joined with half-laps. What tooling do I need to make the half-laps and to profile the long edges?
- Terry
Allison Park, PA
Our Expert
Historically speaking, architectural window sash as well as doors on furniture and cabinets had narrow strips of wood, called mullions, that separated the relatively small individual panes of glass. Presumably, small panes of glass were used because the technology was not available to make larger pieces. However, there is a definite appeal to the small panes that persist to today to the point that large windows are covered with a fake grillwork to simulate a real divided light sash.
An easiest solution to making a decorative grill is to simply join the mullions with half-lap joints and rout a decorative chamfer or roundover profile on the mullions after assembly.