Savvy Spex: DIY Internal Window - HOW TO DO IT

Here is how to go about making the window pane including measuring, cutting to size, and fitting it with plastic edges.

WINDOW MEASUREMENTS AND HAVING THE SHEETS CUT

I can't stress enough how important it is to get the measurements right when you finally to to your plastics supplier and have the sheets cut.

Little gaps are OK though. I found that I needed to subtract 4 mm from the measured lengths. For example 859mm measure by the laser meter translated into 855 mm cut. This was a perfect fit. See below for details.

If you cut them too long, you will have to adjust the wooden frames by cutting, filing or sanding - it's not a pleasant job. If you cut them too short, you will end up with larger gaps.

I experimented and subtracted only 3mm on the longer side and I ended up with a sheet that was slightly long.

I did the measurements multiple times and found out that with this system (4.5mm plastic caps around 6mm acrylic sheets) you need to subtract 4mm from your final measurements. For instance:

My window measurements were like this:

The smallest width = 859

The smallest hight = 1387

859 - 4 = 855 mm

1387 - 4 = 1383 mm

I am cutting: 2 sheets of: 855mm x 1383 mm

The same for a larger window

<< Will be shown here later>>

SHEETS PREPARATION

They arrive with stickers on both sides so that you don't scratch them during transport.

Peel them off around the edges

The sticker is easily peeled off

One by by put plastic cap on each side and mark the edge

Here you HAVE TO cut at 45 degree angles if you want the window to look nice (unlike cutting the metal trims where you simply put them on each other and it won't be seen)

CUTTING THE PLASTIC CAP

When cutting at 45-degree angle you need the holder and a VERY sharp knife.

A little note here: If you do it just like that, the plastic twists and warps and you will never have a clean 45 degrees cut. The trick is to put something in between so that the sides don't come together when you push (just as if the cap was already on the "glass").

You need something that is exactly 6mm thick and is easy to cut to. If you had the same acrylic sheet, it wouldn't be easy to cut. This is what I mean:

For this purpose, I found the the plastic kitchen board the closest thing

Then stick it between the 2 sides and cut

Here is a cut that you need to achieve

There is a little fiddling involved but you will get the hang of it in no time

After that you put the profiles around the whole window sheet

It doesn't have to be glued because the 4.5mm cap profile holds very firmly and tightly on the 6mm sheet

The edges will look like this

APPLY MAGNETIC TAPE

Go to "Suppliers" link to find out where to get it.

Magnetic tape goes on the back of the window on the plastic cap profile

Cut the magnet at 45 degree angle

The completed window sheet should looks similar to this

The sheet will bend slightly but that is not a problem.

The drawing on the left shows the preferred way of placing the window in the frame

If the window is tight in the frame you can get ......... rather than drilling in the plastic but drilling a hole for a handle would probably work too

You can remove the sticker from the window sheets

Resulting internal window:

The finished window fitted into the frame. Frame is painted white now.

You can mount additional security feature to the window frame (a clip) to make sure that the window won't fall out of place (even though the magnets should hold it well enough, it's more for your peace of mind)

The clip can be made of out of these over door hangers (bought in Bunnings). They are covered in soft rubber and quite nice to touch.