Shutters (Design Recommendations)

I used staples (I guess you could call them crown staples) manually pushed into
each shutter louver edge and along the adjusting rod. I used small wooden
dowel for pivots and depended on the self balancing/friction to hold the
louvers in place. Worked great for me. Set of 4 is now over 10 years old and
are 6 feet long and 18 inches wide. Didn't have any real woodworking tools at
the time so I used brick molding from the lumber yard for the stiles.and
standard 1by lumber for the rails. IIRC making the louvers was a real PITA
using jigs with a borrowed 4 inch jointer and a belt sander to round over the
edges. Mike in Arkansas

Scott and Mike ..

Thanks very much for your insights -- very helpful.

Scott discovered your website from a search of "Google" a week or so ago.
I've printed a hard copy for reference -- and have read through it several
times. Thank you!

Kind regards,
Kelly ..


"Scott Post" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:sxNhc.2135$_L6.377021@attbi_s53...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Kelly Spafford <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Decorating my daughter's room for her 16th birthday (surprise) -- plan to
> >make shutters for the window. Looking for recommendations on a couple of
> >design details: (1) Crown Staples vs. Brass Eyelets to secrue the tilt
rod
> >to the louvers, (2) Metal vs. Plastic pins to secure the louvers to the
> >stiles, (3)Use of tensioning mechanism vs. self-balanced louvers -- i.e.
If
> >I do not using a tensioning mechanism will I likely have problems
> >controlling the position of the louvers?
> >
>
> I've made more shutters than I care to remember:
>
> http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/shutters.html
> http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Shutters/shutters.html
>
> I used staples. I hadn't thought of brass eyelets but don't see why
> they wouldn't work. I imagine it'd be slower than staples but if you're
> only doing one window's worth it probably doesn't matter. I did a
> house full so speed was an issue. Once you've built a jig for shooting
> the staples it goes really fast. I used plastic pins because I
> couldn't find metal onces. I would have used metal ones if I'd found
> them because I always prefer to use quality components in anything I
> build. The pin has to have a shoulder so you don't get wood rubbing
> on wood, although I suppose you could use a straight metal rod with
> a washer for a pin. It'd be a real pain to keep the washer from falling
> off when assembling the shutter though. It's already a bit of a hectic
> process.
>
> No doubt about it - use some type of tensioning system. Over time the
> louvers WILL loosen up and fall shut under their own weight. What I did
> was drill a hole just a hair larger than the diameter of a BB to meet up
> with the pin hole on one central louver. Drill it on the hinge side so
> it's hidden. Drop a BB into the hole so it'll bear on the end of the
> pin. Drop a spring from a cheap pen into the hole (I bought a box of
> pens for a few dollars). The diameter of these springs it perfect for
> pushing on a BB. Then drop another BB into the hole on the other side
> of the spring. Now grind a small flat on the tip of a wood screw to
> bear on the BB (just a quick touch on a grinder) and screw it into the
> hole. When the louvers loosen up just give the screw a turn. The screw
> pushes on the BB which pushes on the spring which pushes on the BB which
> bears against the louver pin. Simple, eh? :-) Actually, I thought about
> it after the fact and don't really think you need the spring in there.
> Just one BB and a screw should be fine. The spring is probably completely
> collapsed when you get the right tension so it's not adding anything but
> complication and a lot of excess pen parts lying around.
>
> --
> Scott Post [email protected]
http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/

In article <[email protected]>,
Kelly Spafford <[email protected]> wrote:
>Decorating my daughter's room for her 16th birthday (surprise) -- plan to
>make shutters for the window. Looking for recommendations on a couple of
>design details: (1) Crown Staples vs. Brass Eyelets to secrue the tilt rod
>to the louvers, (2) Metal vs. Plastic pins to secure the louvers to the
>stiles, (3)Use of tensioning mechanism vs. self-balanced louvers -- i.e. If
>I do not using a tensioning mechanism will I likely have problems
>controlling the position of the louvers?
>

I've made more shutters than I care to remember:

http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/shutters.html
http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/Shutters/shutters.html

I used staples. I hadn't thought of brass eyelets but don't see why
they wouldn't work. I imagine it'd be slower than staples but if you're
only doing one window's worth it probably doesn't matter. I did a
house full so speed was an issue. Once you've built a jig for shooting
the staples it goes really fast. I used plastic pins because I
couldn't find metal onces. I would have used metal ones if I'd found
them because I always prefer to use quality components in anything I
build. The pin has to have a shoulder so you don't get wood rubbing
on wood, although I suppose you could use a straight metal rod with
a washer for a pin. It'd be a real pain to keep the washer from falling
off when assembling the shutter though. It's already a bit of a hectic
process.

No doubt about it - use some type of tensioning system. Over time the
louvers WILL loosen up and fall shut under their own weight. What I did
was drill a hole just a hair larger than the diameter of a BB to meet up
with the pin hole on one central louver. Drill it on the hinge side so
it's hidden. Drop a BB into the hole so it'll bear on the end of the
pin. Drop a spring from a cheap pen into the hole (I bought a box of
pens for a few dollars). The diameter of these springs it perfect for
pushing on a BB. Then drop another BB into the hole on the other side
of the spring. Now grind a small flat on the tip of a wood screw to
bear on the BB (just a quick touch on a grinder) and screw it into the
hole. When the louvers loosen up just give the screw a turn. The screw
pushes on the BB which pushes on the spring which pushes on the BB which
bears against the louver pin. Simple, eh? :-) Actually, I thought about
it after the fact and don't really think you need the spring in there.
Just one BB and a screw should be fine. The spring is probably completely
collapsed when you get the right tension so it's not adding anything but
complication and a lot of excess pen parts lying around.

--
Scott Post [email protected] http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/