Plantation Shutters

[scmhogg]

I am in the very early stages of planning to make the plantation shutters that LOML has been asking for.

I just ordered the NYW DVD and "a measured drawing" from the Norm Store.

We have not yet decided whether they will be painted or varnished. If varnished, they will probably be Cherry. If painted, I am leaning toward Poplar. The slats will open and close.

I expect to use wide slats [3"+]. My question is: Which will be most likely to cup? Quarter sawn or flat sawn.

Any other hints about making these monsters would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[dlminehart]

Basswood is the most commonly used wood for shutters and blinds, as it is light weight and resists warping and cupping. You can stain it cherry or whatever.

[atgcpaul]

quote:Originally posted by scmhogg

I am in the very early stages of planning to make the plantation shutters that LOML has been asking for.

I just ordered the NYW DVD and "a measured drawing" from the Norm Store.

We have not yet decided whether they will be painted or varnished. If varnished, they will probably be Cherry. If painted, I am leaning toward Poplar. The slats will open and close.

I expect to use wide slats [3"+]. My question is: Which will be most likely to cup? Quarter sawn or flat sawn.

Any other hints about making these monsters would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

Quartersawn wood is always the first choice when cupping is an
issue. QS is the most stable.

Paul

[LarryG]

Steve, how are you planning to shape the shutter slats? We've been talking about shutters for the living room for a couple of years, and after seeing the NYW version I'm thinking more seriously about building them. But the slats have me stumped. The last time I checked my shop, I didn't see one of those $1900 Williams & Hussey molding machines ANYwhere ...[]

[silverfox]

Here's some really good advice, Steve. Email Mpod....a member here...he did some of those as a FIRST project and they turned out stellar! There are pix here somewhere. He did a great job...I would contact him for his info.
Mike

[ChrisD]

Hi Steve,
I am a big fan of Chris Becksvoort. He uses QS cherry for a lot of his work for stability. He has a lot of respect for the natural forces in wood!
Also, there is a Woodsmith back issue that has plans for constructing shutters. They were used as a 'carcase' for a lamp. It utilizes less jigs than Norm did in the show.

[atgcpaul]

There was also a lengthy discussion of this over on Woodnet.

http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthr...=&fpart=1&vc=1

[scmhogg]

Thanks for all the info guys. Keep it coming.

David, I hadn't though of Basswood, even though I knew most commercial shutters are made of Bass. I thought of Poplar as I though it would be the cheapest hard wood. After your suggestion, I found a local source that has Bass cheaper than Poplar.

Paul, I though QS would be more stable. But, the more I thought about it the more I lost confidence. I could envision each slat curling in a different direction. Thanks for the back up. I checked the Woodnet link. Lots of info but not as friendly as over here.

Larry, I have yet to see the NYW show on shutters. I couldn't find it on any listings out here so I bought the DVD. I didn't even think about tapering the slats. I intended to use 1/4" flat slats. I hoped to get 12/4 flatsawn stock and cut QS slats off the edges. I planned to do two of the round overs before I cut the slat.

Mike, I couldn't find Mpod's posting on shutters. I took your advice and sent him and email.

Chris, do you know the Woodsmith issue? I couldn't locate it. I too love Cherry, but I think it would be too expensive for the project I have in mind. I think LOML wants them painted anyway.

Thanks again
Steve

[ChrisD]

Steve, it's issue #151.

[silverfox]

IIRC Mpod used bass wood.
Mike

[MPod]

Hey Guys! I haven't had time to keep tabs on the forum for quite a while but it looks like I picked a good time to check in.

Mike, Thanks for the kind words. Hope things are going well for you.

Steve, Here's the link Mike was referring to:
http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topi...ation,shutters

I special ordered 3/8" x 4" x 36" basswood "craft boards" from Lowes for the slats. That turned out to be a lifesaver since at the time I didn't have a bandsaw to resaw my own. Even with the bandsaw, resawing all those slats for four doors would have taken forever. If you decide to go this route, I'd order about 20% extra since several of the boards were warped when the order came in.

The slats still needed to be ripped to 3" width, cut to length, drilled for the shutter pins, edges rounded over, and sanded. With all those slats, this is still a time consuming project.

As you can see in the pictures, I used shutter pins rather than routing grooves in the stiles. I wanted to have adjustable shutters so we could open them for sunlight and close them for privacy. I think this approach is also a bit easier than perfectly laying out and routing all the grooves for "fixed" shutters.

I never got around to taking pictures of the second set of shutters but I'll try to do that this weekend. The second set turned out much better since I had a small jointer and planer to use when making the doug fir rails and stiles.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll apologize in advance if it takes me a while to respond but work is swallowing up most of my free time these days.

Enjoy.

[scmhogg]

Mod,

Thanks for the link and the additional info. I would love to see your other pictures when you have the time.

Mike was right about the quality of your shutters.

Steve

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Is it just me or are the photos on the old post not there? Any way you could throw some additional updated photos of your completed shutters in this thread? LOML was discussing yesterday how I should be making these. Now I see it is possiable for SOME folks.
Thanks!

[MPod]

Looks like the link to the original post doesn't work anymore.

I've attached the pictures from the origninal post. At least I think I did...

The finished pictures are of the first set of shutters I built for my dining room.

The Assembly photos are from the 2nd set which went in my office.

[JimD]

I have 3 windows done and 95 louvers in the shop right now in the finishing process to be turned into 2+ more windows worth. The windows I am covering are a little over 5 feet tall and about 30 inches wide. I make two panels each with 21 3inch wide louvers that are hinged on the sides and overlap a bit in the center.

I am using a router bit set I got from Amazon to shape the louvers and cut the bead edge on the vertical frame materials. My shutters are painted and I am using mdf for most of the louvers - mainly because it is cheap and comes 1/2 inch thick. The center louver in each shutter is poplar because it gets a screw that helps to control the tension on the louvers so they will stay in position. I use hinges and knobs/closure hardware from Rocklers. I put on one coat of Kilz Total one on the poplar frame and two coats of this primer on the mdf louvers. Then all the pieces get two coats of white tinted Resisthane (sprayed). My shutter frames go together with loose mortise and tenon joints and I glue two horizontals to one vertical before finishing. I then glue the other vertical onto the frame after everything is finished. I finish these pieces before assembly so I can finish the louvers well. It would be a lot less time consuming I suspect to finish as Norm did with the finish coats applied to the completed shutter. I think it would result in less well finished louvers and inside frame edge, however, so I finish everything, then staple the louvers to the control rod, then dry fit the louvers into position. If everything fits (has so far), I put the one screw into the glued in vertical piece and center louver and then glue on the remaining vertical piece. The screw helps to hold the louvers in position on the one side while I am doing glue-up. Getting 21 louvers in position before the glue starts to set up is a bit nerve racking so having one side stay in place helps a lot.

I liked working out the jigs, Norms are good, and I made my own so I could use a plunge router and spiral bit to make the 1/4 pin holes and mortises. At this stage, the shutters are a bit of a pain. It takes me signifiantly more time to finish than to make a shutter. I do not love finishing. I just bought a respirator. I spray for as much as 3 hours straight sometimes and even water based finishes are not toally safe.

When routing the profile, use feather boards to push the center flat part of the louver stock against the fence. It must remain steady in position or you will have grooves in the edge of your louvers that are difficult to sand out. Make at least two passes to get to the finished profile. I did the stock for 95 shutters out of one 4x8 piece of 1/2 mdf plus a couple little scraps in an easy day of work at the table saw and router table. It takes awhile but is not really that bad. I will have about twice that amount of time in the finishing process by the time I am done.

Jim