Modern manufacturing processes for wooden sash windows are now among the most automated of manufacturing processes. It has only been in the last century that mass production has had any impact on sash windows at all. Window sashes before the early part of the 20 Th century were cut by hand.
Each sash was handmade and required hours of work and hours of training. Usually a single master craftsman would pass his skills on to one or more apprentices. They in turn would practice the proper construction and carving of the sash. It was a lengthy process.
In the modern manufacturing complex of today, a few key strokes is all it takes to set up the entire process for a new sash profile with unique specifications. It is no longer necessary to wait great lengths of time for large quantities of uniform wooden sashes. Identical windows can be mass produced without depending on any one individual and their skill level. Training is frequently more about program familiarization than individual skill improvement.
Mechanization has evolved rapidly. As early as 1900 there were mass production lines that tried to increase the production of sashes. They became increasingly automated as the century progressed. And now can include more robots than human workers.
Of course the need for handmade sashes exists in various niches throughout the world. Any restoration of an historical nature may frequently require craftsmen who can reproduce the fixtures of the past. Putting a mass produced sash on any window of a house on the National Registry of Historic Homes would hardly be seen as appropriate. The cost of individually produced sashes is of course much higher than the mass manufactured product.
One particularly amazing part of the modernization of sash production is the relative ease of changing a sash profile. Rather than refitting entire production lines with knives that will cut the prescribed profile, a computer can instruct movable jigs to assume the required profile in a matter of minutes.
As the processes have changed, the facilities that house them have changed as well. Guild halls have become vast automated structures that cover acres. The increases in efficiency have decreased the waste products that need disposal. Turn-around times are such that as-needed shipping has become common.
Such flexibility and efficiency have transformed the cost of manufacturing and the availability of products around the world. From single blade cutting tools, handled by master craftsmen, the modern manufacturing processes for wooden sash windows have truly advanced. The future can only add to that upward trend. Robotics and automated warehousing will only increase the level of efficiency and product availability.
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