Thank Heavens - the plantation shutters are finally complete

[Tim Malyszko]

After nearly a year of off and on work, the planatation shutters are complete.

I was showing a step-by-step process on how they were made, but my camera recently grew legs and walked off, so all I have is the final pictures right now. If I find the camera, I will finish my blog for this project.

Anyway, this has been the most painful project I've done, not because it was rather difficult, but rather because it was tedious, repetative work and it was difficult to cover up any mis-measurement or cuts since they had to fit perfectly in a not so square window frame. It will be a while before I do it again. Fortunately I have all the jigs made, so the next set won't take nearly as long.

I spray finished them using Target USL Satin Finish tinted white. For some reason, the finish kept wanting to run no matter how light I put it on, so getting a good finish involved a whole lot of sanding and respraying. I don't know if it was the SW Pro Block Primer or what. The good news is that the finish always went down very smooth, so the only thing I ever had to clean up was the drips.

That's about it. Enjoy.

[Tim Malyszko]

Here are a few more pictures of them open. The middle one is attached to the left shutter so they swing out to the left and fold.

[Dewey Torres]

Nice work Tim.
When you first posted I remember lots of folks saying they were going to try them and I don't recall any that actually did. Whew...take a deep breath. Done at last.

[Bruce Page]

Very nice Tim. I have never made any shutters but I bet they are a lot more involved than one would think at first glance.

[Don Bullock]

Congratulations Tim. They look fantastic.

[Rob Cooper]

They turned out very nice. I have been putting off making a set of these because as you mentioned - they are a lot of work.

[Tom Sontag]

The cool thing is that from now on, you just mention to guests that you made them, without any elaboration or showing of scars. Then, collect compliments. And let them sink in. It is a slow and infrequent reward, but it is all positive from here on in.

Starting here: nice work.

[Jim Becker]

They look GREAT Tim!!

[John Keeton]

Very nice job! Rest assured, I will never, never try that!!

[Glenn Clabo]

Tim,
They look perfect...but like I've said before...engineers and machinists have a more frustrating time woodworking than most. Perfection is just in their natural makeup.

Great job!

[Jim Kountz]

Those look nice, job well done. Now that you have all the jigs you can crank out another set or two right!!

[Joe Cunningham]

Great job!
I can see why those would be tedious. If I ever get the urge to build those kind of shutters, I think I might reach for my checkbook.

[Tim Malyszko]

I can see why those would be tedious. If I ever get the urge to build those kind of shutters, I think I might reach for my checkbook.

I now understand why the cost was $400 - $600 to have these manufactured for these windows. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't go this route because of issue of the windows being out of square (got to love 90+ year old homes). If I had them made, I can pretty much guarantee that I would have my block plane out making them fit to the window.

engineers and machinists have a more frustrating time woodworking than most. Perfection is just in their natural makeup.

While I'm not as bad as a machinst, I am really particular. It seems like I keep collecting more measuring tools than anything else. At the same time, woodworking has made me a better engineer especially when it comes to piping design as I now make sure I take into account every last flange, gasket, etc. so that the contractor doesn't come back and say "it doesn't fit and I need to to xyz to make it work."

Thanks for all the kind comments.

[Joe Cowan]

I did one window with the intention of doing at least 10 additional windows. The building of the shutters was not such a big deal, but I am a clutz at painting and without spray equipment, I hand painted them. I stopped at one. It looks nice from about 5' out, but close inspection shows the flaws in the painting. I just paid a company yesterday, $1200 to finish the windows I was going to do.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Great project.