Need hard to describe window release wrench

[TomB]

I have in the house I bought 3 different type Anderson Windows dating to 1970 (date taken from glass code as interpreted by Anderson). The window I'm now re-glazing seems to require a strange wrench to release the sliding plane. Needless to say it did not come with the house and the original owners are diseased. I got the slider out by breaking the retention part on one end. My first thought was to call Anderson and the lady there was very helpful except that she had no information on the window. (It's funny but she had the same window in her office and was able to see the locking screw I was describing but her data base was devoid of information.

The screw is rally a tube glued into thin PVC with a square post visible inside it. It looks like a .200+/- inch OD hollow tube with an ID of .190. Using the video inspection gadget to look inside the tube I see a square post that is recessed about .150 inch. Its hard to measure the length of one side of the square post but I guess it might be 60% of the tube ID. I suspect a watch key might fit the square post but I'm not sure if the OD of a watch key would fit in the ID of the tube. I found when I can buy a whole set for about $20 but they do not provide enough dimensions to really determine if they would work.

Any other thoughts? Just maybe somebody else has the windows and the key and could show it. I'd really like some solution that did not requiring buying a set of things I'll never ever again use.

Tom

[olcop]

A clock key may be your best bet, anything that has an OD of .190 is likely to have a .125 square drive----try any antique shops or used furniture places to see of you can find a key, they often have dozens of them around.
olcop

[chuckey]

Get a narrow piece of Ali and file a .125" slot in the centre end of it as a gauge. 2 minutes. Seems about the size of a radiator bleed key as used in UK.
Frank

[spro]

Radiator bleed wrench. Funny you mentioned that. I thought about that early in this thread and measured the ID of mine. It is about .215 between the inner flats. The depth inside .350 . Barrel OD .350
The depth the key/wrench can be inserted is .400 I thought it would be too short.

[mixdenny]

Home Depot has a universal casement window crank set. It comes with a bunch of different inserts to fit a variety of windows. Not sure if it is adaptable to your problem, but take a look at it sometime. Dennis