A heritage preservationist shows his art
Drew Skuce, left, and Barry McClelland in the workshop. Drew Skuce: “Everyone looks through glass, they never look at glass.”
Barry McClelland removing old putty from a window. Drew Skuce: “All you have to do is just knock these pins out, the whole thing falls apart and you can rebuild it, and it’s completely designed to do that.”
Linseed Paint. Mr. Skuce imports linseed-based paints tinted with natural pigment from Sweden. Not only will it last 50 years, he says it’s “the only repairable paint on the planet.”
After a good schvitz, a whoosh of steam announces it’s time for windows to emerge from the steam box (left) that Mr. Skuce built himself. An hour in the box gets the old putty and paint ready for removal. “It’s great because for glass breakage I’m done to four percent now,” he says.Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail
In Dave Skuce's workshop, Paradigm Shift Customs, Paris, Ont. 1948 Beaver scroll saw. “It’s just a solid block of cast iron; it’s even got a crankcase that you have to fill up with oil,” says Mr. Skuce.
A steam machine in the workshop. “I love the old tech,” says Mr. Skuce. “They were definitely smarter than a lot of us give them credit for.”Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail
Salvaged glass. “I can see why my grandpa’s generation recycled old windows,” says Mr. Skuce.
Window in foreground going to Paris museum. “Window design is, like, 70 – 80 percent of a building,” says Mr. Skuce. “As soon as you change that, the whole balance of the building changes—it’s quite extraordinary.”
Stuff from 'garbage day.'Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail
Garbage day finds, detail.Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail
Work to be done.
Drew with a heat gun. After windows or doors come out of the steam box, Mr. Skuce uses a heat gun with two infrared quartz tubes that heat to 450F to get the rest of the paint off. “The thicker the paint is on something the easier it comes off.”
Drew Skuce, outside his Paris, Ont., workshop.
Barry McClelland removing old putty from a window.