56 Making traditional and modern windows
After the pulley stiles have been tongued on their
outer edges, grooved for the parting beads and cut to
length, the pockets are formed as follows:- Mark out the base of a pocket squarely across the
inner face- side of the pulley stile, as indicated in
Figure 4.3; then square this line across the rebate’s
edge and step it up on the tongue (into the pocket
area) by 12mm and square it across the face of
the inner back- side. Determine the height of the
pocket and mark this squarely across the face
again – but, instead of squaring it on the rebate’s
edge as before, this time bevel the mark upwards by
about 30° and step it down (into the pocket area)
by 12mm and square it once again across the face of
the inner back- side. Set up a marking gauge from
the pulley- stile’s edge to the centre of the parting-
bead groove and mark this on the face of the back-
side, to cut across the squared lines of the pocket.
Where these top- and bottom- points of the pocket
intersect, drill 6mm diameter counterbored holes
carefully with a Jennings’ or Sandvik- type auger
bit until the point just breaks through into the
parting- bead groove. These holes are to relieve the
stopped saw- cuts needed and, if not sufficient for
inexperienced joiners, larger holes of 12 or 18mm
diameter can be made – providing greater care is
taken regarding the point of the bit only just break-
ing through the centre of the parting- bead groove. - Still on the back- side of the pulley stile, crosscut
squarely and vertically with a gents’- , dovetail- ,
or tenon- saw into these relieving holes to a depth
Forming the pockets
Figure 4.3: The method of forming pockets in pulley
stiles to allow access to the weights varies, but the
one detailed below was popular on good- class work.
First, it must be mentioned that inserting or remov-
ing weights via the access pockets is very difficult if
the pockets are too short – and consideration should
be given to the potential length of the weights, i.e.
the larger the glazed sash, the heavier and there-
fore longer will be the cast iron or lead weights.
Generally speaking, pockets should not be less than
75mm above the top of the sill (to avoid creat-
ing short grain at the base of the pulley stiles), nor
more than 150mm above the sill (making it more
difficult to retrieve sunken weights) – and must
not be visible above the meeting rail or joggles of
the bottom (inner) sash. About 350 to 400mm is a
common length of pocket for small to medium- sized
boxframes and – providing these sizes are within
the boundaries of the criteria given in the previous
sentence, another measure as a final guideline is that
the length of pockets should be about a quarter of the
height of the pulley stile.
1045
16221721116Figure 4.2 (e) Vertical section C- C through the window-
head in Figure 4.2(c), showing (2) the continuous
pulley- stile head; (4) continuous inner lining; (5) continu-
ous outer lining; (10) wagtail; (11) top rail of fixed sash,
grooved to accommodate the sash cord from the adjacent
top- hung sash; (16) glue blocks; (17) sash pulley wheel;
(22) beaded cover- mould, grooved to accommodate
the sash cord from the adjacent bottom- hung sash. Note
that if standard sash pulley wheels are used, they will
require part- housing into the pulley head and a simple
modification to the top of the pulley’s rear encasement.
Also note that renewing sash cords on this type of window
involves removal of the fixed (usually skew- nailed) side-
light sashes.
AA-AAFigure 4.3 Part front and side elevation and section A- A
of an access pocket in a typical pulley stile. Note that the
countersunk screw holding the pocket can also be placed
in the saw- cut below, to wedge up the pocket and create
a tight fit.