"Zootal" wrote in message
...
First of all, please don't laugh at me - I admit to being n00bish

This question is directed primarily to those with experience glazing
windows with DAP 33.

I have a wood frame, and a 8x10 piece of glass. The rabbet is 1/4 inch. I
lay down a small bead of putty (DAP 33) into the rabbet. I press the glass
into it. So far so good, looks good. Fits nicely. I install a glazier
point in the middle of each side, four total.

Now for the fun part. I get a nice glob of putty, roll it into a ball,
warm it a bit with my hands, roll it into a rope and press it into the
groove. I take my putty knife, and try to run it along the grove to make a
nice flat surface. I'm finding that no matter how I do this, the knife
pulls the putty and I don't get a smooth surface.

I watched a video of someone doing this, and he made it look real easy.
Bah.... I tried a plastic putty knife, a metal putty knife, plastic caulk
smoothing gizmo that is supposed to MAKE CAULKING EASY ONLY $19.99
(actually cost about three bucks) and same problem. It pulls the putty and
I don't get a smooth finish. Hold knife flat, angle it up, etc. Pulls
putty.

So - what am I missing? What is the trick to doing this with DAP 33 so
that you get a nice smooth finish? Warm it? Cool it? Mix in some linseed
oil? This can't be that difficult....


Thanks, everyone. The dastardly deed has been done . I ended up using a 1"
wood chisel because I didn't like any of my putty knives, and I liked the
feel of the chisel. I dipped the tip of it in linseed oil (gotta get some
mineral spirits...), and was able to get a fairly nice edge with a bit of
practice. I don't know what fresh DAP 33 is supposed to be like. This stuff
seemed to me to be fairly soft and sticky, and even warmed up I couldn't get
a nice edge. I guess I needed the right tool and a bit of practice (and some
advice from people here). The first pane took an hour or two...I must have
ripped the putty out and redid it 3 or 4 times. The second pane was about 20
minutes, the third pane about 10 minutes. Funny how that works.