My next project after building a couple of storage cabinets for the shop will be louvered shutters for the inside of our home's windows. Got the plan for a jig to assemble a shutter into a frame. (from Woodsmith Magazine) Know that I want 2" wide louvers - 1/4" thick. Length will have to fit the windows.. I would like to make tapered louvers, rather than the flat louvers the magazine proposes, but haven't been able to figure out how to cut last two tapers. Does anyone have an idea on how to mill the 3/4" wide tapers on the louvers? Here is my plan (drawing) of a cross section of a proposed louver. (the pivot hole is purposely offset 1/8" to counter balance the control bar)
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Need a little louver help
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Need a little louver help
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Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
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Ed in Tampa
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- Location: North Tampa Bay area Florida
charlese wrote:My next project after building a couple of storage cabinets for the shop will be louvered shutters for the inside of our home's windows. Got the plan for a jig to assemble a shutter into a frame. (from Woodsmith Magazine) Know that I want 2" wide louvers - 1/4" thick. Length will have to fit the windows.. I would like to make tapered louvers, rather than the flat louvers the magazine proposes, but haven't been able to figure out how to cut last two tapers. Does anyone have an idea on how to mill the 3/4" wide tapers on the louvers? Here is my plan (drawing) of a cross section of a proposed louver. (the pivot hole is purposely offset 1/8" to counter balance the control bar)
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Chuck
Two ways come to mind. First keep the saw off and tape it back in place and make the other cuts.
Second method use a tendoning jig or make one that holds the wood and cut the bevel. This method would require each slat to be cut instead of tapering a board and then cutting the slats off.
A third method and perhaps the best came to mind as I was writting this.
build a aux fence holding the wood at the angle you need for the taper. Then cut two tapers. Then insert a additional block in the jig that matches the cut taper and cut the other two tapers.
Ed
Thanks Ed! You have eased my confusion.
You know, sometimes the solution is right there, but the rusty mind won't come up with it. (Kinda like a frozen hard drive)
When you said "keep the saw offs", I had to think, " Why not!
" Here's the plan now. Saw the first two tapers on one side, use this first louver as the shims, by ripping off the tapers. Then after sawing tapers on one side all of the rest of the louvers, glue the (ripped) tapered shims to the jig and saw the other sides.
You know, sometimes the solution is right there, but the rusty mind won't come up with it. (Kinda like a frozen hard drive)When you said "keep the saw offs", I had to think, " Why not!
" Here's the plan now. Saw the first two tapers on one side, use this first louver as the shims, by ripping off the tapers. Then after sawing tapers on one side all of the rest of the louvers, glue the (ripped) tapered shims to the jig and saw the other sides.Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Gee it is to bad you don't have a new tool like the OPR to do the job.... gee with a tilting table and a bit of thinking one might be able to do these up...
You know if the wood were longer then what you needed so it could be screwed down to a sled, then the center hole was used to keep things in place.... then a slight tip of the table, a router bit that was say 3/4" wide... hmmm..... yea you would need a fence to run off of.... you know maybe I would do the bead thing first then the taper cuts... but darn then you would have to use the set up to make a second sled to do the other side with the negative image (cut away) to hold it stable. Gee you would have to make sure the sled(s) had the part centered so you could just flip it around when making the cuts
Oh well just thinking out loud here.
Ed
You know if the wood were longer then what you needed so it could be screwed down to a sled, then the center hole was used to keep things in place.... then a slight tip of the table, a router bit that was say 3/4" wide... hmmm..... yea you would need a fence to run off of.... you know maybe I would do the bead thing first then the taper cuts... but darn then you would have to use the set up to make a second sled to do the other side with the negative image (cut away) to hold it stable. Gee you would have to make sure the sled(s) had the part centered so you could just flip it around when making the cuts
Oh well just thinking out loud here.
Ed
GOT ME!!reible wrote:Gee it is to bad you don't have a new tool like the OPR to do the job.... gee with a tilting table and a bit of thinking one might be able to do these up...Ed
Good one Ed!Been thinking how to use the OPR to do the job, Here's my worry on that. Should keep the bit (probably a spiral) below the work, but then the piece would become unstable as it is milled. (worry-worry). With the bit on top of the work, could use hold downs, but am thinking I would have to use shims on each louver. (unless some way I could shim the table).
This really boils down to the fact that I do not know the OPR like I do the saw. Need a training course on the OPR. No, can't get to Dayton. This knowledge will come, maybe I'll learn some more about it as the new Shop cabinets are built!
Think (at this point of planning) I'll save the beads (or roundovers) until last. Seems like two 1/16" roundovers would work. Also a 1/8' beading bit. Hows that for being decided?:rolleyes:
Had to edit with this thought; A sled could be built with the tapers of the very first piece, (just like in sawing). Once the sled is built, would you recommend routing from the top of the piece? using hold downs on both edges? If I could use the OPR it would save quite a bit of sanding!
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
If were going to do this it would be with a router and since a few of you have the OPR I will share a few ideas.
First the idea here is to tilt the table (looks like about 4-1/2 deg.) You need a flat bottom bit and to make it in one pass it should be 3/4" wide. I might like to use a dish cutter or maybe even a bottom cleaning bit.
The sled could be a piece of plywood that is just larger then the work piece say maybe 3" wide and longer then the louvers by a few inches. Take your time getting the centerline established it will be the major datum for the part.
The stock should be at thichness and width. I would make it say an inch or 2" longer then needed, you can make it less if you wish. You can also setup the OPR to do the center hole and cut them with the router rather then the drill press if you wish to get some added time with the machine. You would most likey want to use an upspiral bit for this. You will also be adding holes in the area towards the end of the stock (remember you made it longer then it needed to be).
Using brass screws one in each of the three holes... a brass washer might be a good idea in the center hole so you don't mark it.
While you are testing the setup it might be a good idea to make a couple of shims up to be used later... they may or maynot be required but this is a good time to make them. It should be clear how to make them as you look at the rest of this post. You can then tape or tack them in place on the sled for doing the "other side" of the workpiece.
You will need to set the fence so the cutter takes off the material you want. And you may need to fine tune the table angle as needed. You will also have to establish the right bit height and lock that in place.
Just in case Nick reads this "Please use the guards and common sence while putting this together", or how ever that goes.
I made up a couple of sketches for reference. Hope this helps. Oh yea the drawings shows the bit tipped but you know it is the table that is tipped right??
Ed
First the idea here is to tilt the table (looks like about 4-1/2 deg.) You need a flat bottom bit and to make it in one pass it should be 3/4" wide. I might like to use a dish cutter or maybe even a bottom cleaning bit.
The sled could be a piece of plywood that is just larger then the work piece say maybe 3" wide and longer then the louvers by a few inches. Take your time getting the centerline established it will be the major datum for the part.
The stock should be at thichness and width. I would make it say an inch or 2" longer then needed, you can make it less if you wish. You can also setup the OPR to do the center hole and cut them with the router rather then the drill press if you wish to get some added time with the machine. You would most likey want to use an upspiral bit for this. You will also be adding holes in the area towards the end of the stock (remember you made it longer then it needed to be).
Using brass screws one in each of the three holes... a brass washer might be a good idea in the center hole so you don't mark it.
While you are testing the setup it might be a good idea to make a couple of shims up to be used later... they may or maynot be required but this is a good time to make them. It should be clear how to make them as you look at the rest of this post. You can then tape or tack them in place on the sled for doing the "other side" of the workpiece.
You will need to set the fence so the cutter takes off the material you want. And you may need to fine tune the table angle as needed. You will also have to establish the right bit height and lock that in place.
Just in case Nick reads this "Please use the guards and common sence while putting this together", or how ever that goes.
I made up a couple of sketches for reference. Hope this helps. Oh yea the drawings shows the bit tipped but you know it is the table that is tipped right??
Ed
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- sled with workpiece.jpg (9.93 KiB) Viewed 17466 times
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- cut 1.jpg (10.92 KiB) Viewed 17464 times
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- cut 2.jpg (10.29 KiB) Viewed 17453 times
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- cut 3.jpg (10.5 KiB) Viewed 17462 times
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dusty
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- Location: Tucson (Wildcat Country), Arizona
Need a little louver help
You guys never cease to amaze me. Now you have become graphic artists, CAD operators and photographers.
Neat drawings, ed. Is this something you picked up while on vacation. I don't believe I've seen this talent demonstrated before this. But then I'll bet you have a whole bag full of tricks we haven't seen yet.
Neat drawings, ed. Is this something you picked up while on vacation. I don't believe I've seen this talent demonstrated before this. But then I'll bet you have a whole bag full of tricks we haven't seen yet.
Excellent post Ed (reible)! Now I'm beginning to see the light! (at least on this project for the OPR) A 3/4" bit from the top sounds like just the ticket. The slopes on the louvers should come out pretty close to 3/4" wide. Nice drawings!
After "Ed from Tampa's " opening my eyes to using cutoffs for shims, thought I'd make the first set of shims by using the waist from half a louver, (so to speak). The only part of that workpiece that would be saved are the cutoffs, as it would be sawn a kerf deeper than normal. Would use the band saw for this operation.-- Narrower kerfs and smoother operation than the table saw. Also I'm going to be working with wood only 1/4" thick.
Your suggestions are appreciated! I'm getting so excited now, maybe I'll start on the shutters before making another shop shelf and cabinet. - No - just need to keep to plan A. Better wait for my new "light" to grow brighter! The shop needs more storage and organizing.
Don't think I'm going to worry too much about degrees of tilt. Just need to make a slope of about 3/4" wide.
After "Ed from Tampa's " opening my eyes to using cutoffs for shims, thought I'd make the first set of shims by using the waist from half a louver, (so to speak). The only part of that workpiece that would be saved are the cutoffs, as it would be sawn a kerf deeper than normal. Would use the band saw for this operation.-- Narrower kerfs and smoother operation than the table saw. Also I'm going to be working with wood only 1/4" thick.
Your suggestions are appreciated! I'm getting so excited now, maybe I'll start on the shutters before making another shop shelf and cabinet. - No - just need to keep to plan A. Better wait for my new "light" to grow brighter! The shop needs more storage and organizing.
Don't think I'm going to worry too much about degrees of tilt. Just need to make a slope of about 3/4" wide.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
Another Idea
How about using the table saw to cut a wedge of the correct angle and using it with the fence and the conical sanding disk to sand the angles. I think you could take enough off with one pass and it would be pretty easy to do. That would eliminate saw kerf marks. Also it would keep your fingers away from sharp objects moving fast. That is always a plus.
JeffG
JeffG