A Small-Footprint Setup Companion
Before you build the Sash Factory, it helps to understand the tools that surround it.
When I first started figuring out sash making, I assumed I needed big equipment — shapers, heavy cast iron machines, and a shop big enough to hold it all. It didn’t take long to learn that most of that thinking was overkill.
 
Sash parts are small. Most are less than three feet long. Once that clicked, the whole system started to shrink. The goal became simple: build a practical, repeatable, teachable sash-making setup that could fit in a small shop, a garage, a trailer, or even under a 10 x 10 shade structure.
 
That is what this companion is about.
 
Sash Making Tools: A Small-Footprint Setup Companion is a practical guide to the tool sequence around the Sash Factory. It does not replace the full Sash Factory Build Guide. Instead, it gives you the map before the build.
 
Inside, you’ll learn how the main tools fit together:
The chop saw, jointer, planer, and table saw for milling blanks.
The mortiser, horizontal tenoner, vertical tenoner, and Sash Factory for making joinery.
The pulley trough setup, relisher, clamps, tables, dust collection, and small hand tools that support the work.
 
The principles that make the system work: centered mortises, predictable thickness, indexing, test cuts, and creeping up on the fit.
 
This companion is for window restorers, carpenters, woodworkers, preservationists, and serious beginners who want to understand how authentic sash making can be done without a massive shop or industrial equipment.
 
The point is not to own more tools.
The point is to remove confusion.
 
When the sequence is clear, the shop gets smaller, the work gets faster, and the sash maker gets more confident.
 
What You’ll Get
A downloadable PDF companion guide.
A practical overview of the small-footprint sash-making setup.
Tool recommendations based on years of real sash-making work.
An explanation of the millwork and joinery tool sequence.
The story of how the Sash Factory system evolved.
A clear next step toward the full Sash Factory Build Guide.
 
Important Note
This is not the full Sash Factory Build Guide. It does not include the complete measured plans for building the Sash Factory Router Table.
 
This companion explains the tools, sequence, setup logic, and principles around the table. When you are ready to build the actual Sash Factory, the full build guide is the next step.
Companion Credit
 
Buy this companion now, and if you decide to purchase the full Sash Factory Build Guide within 30 days, the full price of this companion can be credited toward the build guide.
 
Start here if you want to understand the system.
 
Go to the build guide when you are ready to build the table.