Belmont Chapel Window Frames
We were tasked with restoring the frames on three beautiful stained glass windows at Belmont Chapel in Island Cemetery, Newport, RI. As the restoration of the glass is a costly and painstaking process, it is logical to restore its frame to the highest standard. We chose to disassemble, fully sandblast, paint and then reassemble the frames to allow for the finish to fully-enclose the wrought iron frames. The frames were reinstalled in new mahogany frames using stainless steel hardware.
An extracted frame is traced on sheets of lauon prior to disassembly.
"Before" of the upper secton of a frame. Note that the components are held together using cold-connections, or hardware.
This image shows the beautiful forged joinery in these frames.
We produced new steel brackets to hold the frames to the new mogohany molding.
A "before" image of the upper section of a disassembled frame. These were orignally made using forging techniques.
The window frames have been disassembled and are ready to be sandblasted.
While the frame components were out to be finished, we cleaned up the thumb screws. These screws hold the stained glass in place when a flat version of the main frame slots over them. The screws are then turned so that they are perpendicular to the slots, trapping the frames in place. We applied an automotive clearcoat to the screws to keep them bright.
The window parts painted black ready to be assembled. We used a high quality paint system that will last many years.
An assembled frame ready for installation.
A frame is installed in its mohogany molding.
These windows will await their stained glass for many months.