Today one of my jobs at the old Bank St house was to reglaze a window. I've mentioned on the forums before how I remove old putty by steaming it out so I thought I'd take some photos. This is not a tutorial on how to putty there are plenty out there already.
First thing to do is use a scraper to remove the paint over the joint between putty and timber and putty and glass. This will help the steam get in.
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Then use a wall paper remover with the end removed to produce the steam. They can be had really cheaply second hand, I picked mine up on Marketplace for $10. Start by steaming a small area, run a scraper/putty knife along the glass and under the putty. You can also come down vertically between the timber and the putty if you can see a gap opening up but be careful you don't dig into the timber. Some putty will give up quickly and come away leaving a clean rebate. As the putty starts softening and coming away move the steam onto the next area while you tidy up the last bit. Today the putty didn't want to go, it softened quickly but wouldn't let go, so it was just a matter of carving it away as it softened.
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After all the putty is removed along with the brads/glazing points it's time to ease the old glass out. This can be aided by slipping a thin scraper between the glass and the putty bed. Needless to say take care! This putty released the glass very easily, which is mostly the case.
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Once the glass is out and disposed of safely, the bedding can be steamed out the same way.
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After sitting in the sun for several hours the rebate can be sanded to remove any furry bits and brushed out really well. At this point you might choose to paint the rebate with an oil-based primer or paint on a bit of linseed oil to slow the absorption of the oil out of the putty.
Then it's time to lay in the bed of putty and drop the glass in and gently push it into the putty. The putty needs to make a complete seal all around the edge of the glass. If you have an old random orbit sander you can use this to vibrate the glass into the putty (no sandpaper!). This is very effective so you don't want to overdo it, you want a mm or two of thickness to the bed. Clean off the squeeze out.
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Then you place some brads or points three each side for this size window and one top and bottom if you like. The brads need to be hammered in until the head is below the timber rebate edge seen on the inside of the glass plus a bit lower again. They must be below the putty! Then putty the outside of the window keeping the edge of the putty in line with the edge of the rebate on the other side of the glass, it doesn't look good from the inside if you can see the putty line on the outside.
After tooling off the putty, drop on some whiting (calcium carbonate) and wipe up the putty haze on both sides of the glass and brush it over the putty to begin the curing process. Simples. After you do a few the hardest part is not sticking a finger or thumb in the putty when installing the window! This is the best method I've found to remove putty and if you are just redoing the putty not replacing the glass it is the only method that virtually assures you won't break the glass.
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