I’m in the last stage of building a cherry kitchen and have left the most challenging part for last. I will be fabricating two pair of bi-fold louver doors for pantry and a clothes closet. Anyone have any experience with building jigs and/or templates for mortising the louver slots? I have found only one source for a small louver template (way too small for my 78 ” high door with 1/4″ X 1 1/2″ slats. Was thinking of making a shelf pin template, then overlaying it with a plate with an angled slot for routing the hole perhaps using the pin hole as the means of indexing the slots. Or using the template to sequentially index the following slot(s). Must be a fairly easy way to accomplish this without becoming wrapped up in something that compounds the possible accumulating error of routing them in sequence using a small template. May be I’m fretting too much because my wife is standing over me with a big club to get me to finish this project. Just trying to preserve my skull by inquiring if any of you have suggestions. Many thanks.
Jim in Woodstock, VT
Replies
Norm Abrham recently showed how to make a louver jig on a show devoted to jigs. I didn't pay close enough attention to describe what he did, but here's a link to buy a copy of the episode. http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0101
Thanks quickstep. I don't have deep pockets so I can't afford to go the Festool or Leigh FMT route right now so I will poke my nose in to Norm Abrahm's site. Been saving my "pin" money for a new Grizzly 8" spiral head jointer. I'm retired and I shovel and blow snow from three of my neighbors driveways to pay for my toys. The way this winter is going I might just have enough saved for the Leigh jig by spring. Hee. Hee.
Jim
How much money do you have? ;-)
Leigh sells a louver jig for their FMT, with which you can machine the tenon ends on the slats as well as the mortises. The entire package should set you back only around $800 or so.
-Steve
Check out a Festool Domino. Can't get much easier or more accurate than that.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
This was covered by FW back in the black and white days, had plans for a simple router jig, everything you need. I'll try to figure out which issue it was in...
Issue No. 10, Spring 1978
Article: Louvered Doors, Router Jig Cuts Slots by William F. Reynolds
Edited 1/17/2008 8:33 am ET by BossCrunk
Some other articles from that same issue:
Staved Cones, the general mathematics
Compound Angle Staves
Wooden Clockworks (Yep, wooden clockworks)
Edited 1/17/2008 1:20 pm ET by BossCrunk
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled