With about 23 people working full-time in the Timeless Sash Windows joinery, it is a busy place every day. Ollie Conway manages the production in co-ordination with agreed delivery dates.

This post shows how the timber moves through the factory from arriving as a raw material to leaving as a finished window ready for installation. We also have a great video that shows the process and you can watch that by clicking here.

Want to find out more? Drop by the joinery and we would be happy to take you on a tour through this very impressive production using a combination of machinery and time-honoured craft techniques. The difference in your finished windows will be apparent when you see the care that goes into every step.

When the raw timber arrives into the factory it is stored indoors to keep dry and straight. Mickey Casey operates the Rip Saw which is where the timber is first cut to section size. The sections are then taken to the Cross Cut Saw where they are cut to the overall length required for each project. These pieces of timber are straightened on the Surfacer and then planed all over on the Six Cutter to ensure an even smoothness.

At this point the joinery operates in 2 distinct sections. There are the traditionally made windows and the modern designs. Depending on which method is being used, the timber sections will be tenoned and molded and then move to the benches for clamping and assembly.

The windows will now have their joints filled and will pass through the drum sander. The next stage is to have the grooves machined for the Timeless Draught Seal system to be installed. At this stage they will get an overall sanding with an Orbital Sander, ready for paint priming.

Our windows are all painted with specialist exterior joinery coatings by Teknos in a 3 coat system – 2 layers of primer and a top coat. These are expertly sprayed to achieve a perfect factory finish and a 7 year guarantee. That means no maintenance for 7 – 10 years, apart from a general wipe to clean them each year.

In between each paint layer, the windows and doors will be de-nibbed by hand to ensure the absolute best finish possible.

When the windows are finished painted they go to the glazing area of the factory to be sealed. The openings will get glazing tape / bedding tape before the panes of glass are fitted. These panes of glass are ordered specifically for each window, depending on the requirements and specifications. The glass is puttied with an acrylic putty that is compatible with double glazed units, followed by 2 coats of primer and a final top coat of paint – applied by hand by our in-house painters.

The last step in the factory is to clean the glass and carefully wrap it in bubble wrap, ready for collection by our fitting teams and delivery to their new homes.

Throughout the process, the utmost care is applied to each step and quality control ensures that no window or door will leave the factory unless it is perfect.

You can watch our video here to get a full insight into the manufacturing process through to finished and fitted windows.

It is also worth noting that the sawdust from the factory is sucked out via extraction ducts and moved along a conveyor belt system to a briquetter machine. This turns the sawdust waste into pellets which are perfect for use in solid fuel stoves. We are proud to have a low environmental impact in our manufacturing process.

Published 18th April 2019