Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Mar 07, 2008 08:22pm | #1

   Are you planning to use a commercial jig which has a preset spacing to cut the mortises for the louvers?

   John White

1. 
   TomFerreira | Mar 08, 2008 03:52am | #2

   John,

   I was hoping to cut them on the table saw with a miter gauge using a Point-2-point gauge for the layout. The thing I don't know is the angle of the louver and the overlap required to prevent see-through. this project is for a friends boat and each panel is a different height and width, but I don't want a noticable difference between panels. this almost seems like a shingling job where spacing that is close will not be noticed. I have no experience in this area and would like advice before cutting expesive teak. I am actually going to prototype one panel in poplar just to make sure the technique is prven.

   TDF

1. 
   JohnWW | Mar 08, 2008 08:10pm | #3

   The angle is typically 45 degrees on a fixed louver. The spacing is most easily worked out as a percentage of the width of the slats. To start with, I would suggest trying a spacing of 80% of the width of the slat. This would mean that for a slat width of 1.25", the center to center spacing will be 1". At this proportion it still isn't possible to see past the louvers looking in horizontally, but there is still good air flow and a fair amount of reflected light getting by.Any jig that indexes spaces by registering off of the preceding notch or hole can accumulate errors that add up as each notch is added. Even a small error in the spacing or looseness in the way the pin registers can add up steadily to create a problem with the length of the final piece, you might find that 20 spaces 1" apart come out adding up to 19" or 21 inches instead of the calculated 20". Making a prototype is an excellent idea.Hope this helps,John White

1. 
   TomFerreira | Mar 19, 2008 05:18am | #4

   John,

   Thanks. Attached is a pic of the prototype. now it's on to the real thing.

   TDF

   
1. 
   JohnWW | Mar 19, 2008 07:38pm | #5

   Lookin' good. Did you use my formula for the size and spacing?John W.