Restoration of Historic Carved Rope Wooden Moldings on Window Frames

 In 2005, the Governor’s mansion of Des Moine embarked on a massive restoration of the building, which is 18,000’. The building is magnificent, and we just don’t build like this anymore.

 

If you zoom in to the windows, you can see the carved wooden arch overlays I recreated to duplicate the originals. (Photo by Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Hundreds of people were hired to bring back the historic beauty of the original building which had lost some of its luster. The main team was a construction contractor, and they set about restoring the windows. When it came time to address the old panes, they quickly realized they needed a specialist in fine woodworking. To re-do the original wood carved rope moldings around the top frames of the windows, they needed someone with an eye for detail, who could execute the complicated, intricate design, and yet also produce them as if it was a production line at a factory.

I was contacted by an old friend who knew my fine woodworking skills. He happened to be the project manager for the window restoration. He explained that the scope of the project was outside the company’s abilities so he wondered if I could do it. After some back and forth, and reviewing the unique features, we settled on a price, and I was hired. The construction team provided me with the raw materials that were custom to the job, but it was all on me to figure out how to duplicate the original frames are truly works of art.

Each window was different. There were nine windows in all. And I was replacing the original features from 1869. If you look closely, you can see a painted white rope carved wooden arch overlaying the window panes. The old ones were rotting, and falling apart. They needed new ones to last for another 120 years.

The task was one of duplication which sounds simple enough: just make a copy! But in truth, what I do is often a lost art, and obviously no one on the construction team could do it. The layout had to be perfect to mesh with the existing detail of the other window features such as the brick and cement features. I spent some time reviewing how I could carve the wood and get the same results. After some trial and error, I found a ribbon the right size and strung it around the raw material using it as a guide for the spiral carving. I’m not sure if this is how they originally did it, but it worked well. Overall, it was a process of using two modern machines to rough-out shapes, then back to traditional hand tools for the final finish. 

The first carved wooden window frame took 12 hours, but the last one took 2, because this is what happens when you start from scratch on a custom woodworking product, and then perfect the process as you produce more units. 

Outside of working on the State Capital building, this project was one of the most challenging and rewarding, and I’m proud it’s on display for the whole world to see for many years to come. 

If you need restoration of custom carved wooden window frames, please send me an email. I’m always happy to discuss a new project. Please send a 1 sentence description of your project and your contact information, and I’ll get back to you.

Thanks,
Chad Hatfield

Woodlabs

For more fine woodworking and finish carpentry projects in the Portland metro area or beyond, check our my website, and let me know if I can help you.