Window sliding shoe mechanism

thingiverse

I designed and printed a replacement shoe for my Cascade brand double-hung, double-paned window when it failed. The bottom of the original shoe is thin and made of low-quality plastic or vinyl that's only 10 years old. Replacing it was going to cost $1,100+, so I took matters into my own hands. The photos show the original shoe from another window in white; mine is printed in red because that's all the ABS I had available at the time. Printing them in white would be better, but you can't see it anyway. The stopper at the top of the original shoe has a central tab that locks onto the moving shoe when the window is fully up and locked. The lock slides up and grabs the shoe on an incline between the two sides of the bridge. My model doesn't have this feature, but it seems to work okay anyway. The OpenSCAD models I used are a little rough around the edges; ideally, they'd be more generalizable so you can use them for other windows. There's only 1/4mm of space between the rotating lock and the shoe body, so it's a tight fit – but it works well if you fiddle with it a bit to remove any excess plastic. When printing your own replacement shoes, use strong ABS and high infill settings; this thing needs to be able to hold up your window. Don't over-tighten the spring screws into the shoe either – just make them snug so you don't strip the plastic. If you like these designs, consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SteveCoast.