Sliding Shutters

[nickw]

I have had a request to make some sliding shutters to go over the inside of some windows. The fun part is that the windows are set into the sloping roof of the bedroom so the shutters will hang at around 45 degrees from vertical. The shutters will be made of (made to look like) solid Oak and be around 1.2 x 0.75m in size. Does anyone know of any running gear that will operate at that sort of angle, and with that sort of weight?

Also I need to draught- and light- seal the sutters, and was thinking of using the sort of nylon brushes usually found in letter box draught excluders. Does anyone know where I can get that sort of thing in 1-2m lengths, or of any alternatives that I might try?

Velux type blinds are not an option b.tw..

[colincott]

HI Nick

I get a catalogue that has the type of brushes you are after but I will have to look for it and get back to you

They do all sorts of window parts

[nickw]

Thanks Colin.

[colincott]

Hi Nick

It seems you are in luck as I found it ;D

The company is Reddiseal

I hope its what you need

[jfc]

Hi Nick , i'm sure mighton will do all the parts you need . They supply sash window parts . If you Pm me your address i can send you a sample of the brush and plastic carrier that they slide into . The spirals that take the place of sash weights will do the lifting for you and very easy to fit into a 17mm groove . They should work at any angle as long as the shutter is supported as the work on springs .

P.s they sell a cutter that will rout in the brush and carrier if you want to go that way , it saves alot of messing about .

[nickw]

Colin,

Thanks, the longest of their Weatherpile might do the job - the wall/ceiling is pretty uneven, but I haven't measured by how much yet.

Jason,

Thanks for the offer, but having seen the stuff on their web site (www.mightonproducts.com) I don't think the pile will be long enough.

[nickw]

And now I've found Reddiseals' door draught excluders which look to be more along the lines I was after.

[nickw]

So nobody has any ideas about the running gear then?

[johnc]

Could you use full extension draw runners 700mm top and bottom of window opening,if you keep shutter lightweight it might work.
I have bought these ,good product ebay Item number: 180218544679
no relationship just satisfied customer
cheers john c

[jfc]

You dont like the idea of spirals then ? Having used them on sashes i think they would be perfect .

[nickw]

Oops, I haven't been clear enough. The shutters are to slide horizontally. The idea is that they will meet in the middle, forming a panel over the head of the bed during the day, then slide apart, covering the windows (which are either side of the bed), at night.

Using drawer gear would prove unsightly when they are open. Spirals only work as a counterbalance (if I understand correctly), which I don't need.

[engineerone]

nick, now i too understand, how are you expecting the customer to open the shutters???

how about looking at the kind of gear available for opening and closing roller shutters with a remote switch??

i'm thinking of a rail system with gears, or a couple of cables which fit each sash, and are moved by a 12 volt electric motor over some pulleys.

paul

[nickw]

Manual operation is fine - no need to over-complicate things.

Unless someone can come up with a more cabinet-makery solution soon, it looks like I'm going to have to go for engineering spec linear bearings. However these come with lots of requirements for the parallelism of the rails, and that's going to be really easy to set up on a wonky ceiling - NOT.

[jfc]

Spirals or springs are a counter weight but dont work on gravity they work on tention and you could hide them in a rebate in the frame . You would need a small gap for the fixings , 6-7 mm . I think they would work and they are cheap compared to the other options your thinking of . I didnt recomend them on price i just think they will work .

[nickw]

Yeh, but Jase, I don't need a counterweight, they will slide horizontally on horizontal rails.

[engineerone]

nick, how about using the kind of plastic wheels they use on
bi fold doors???

otherwise i would think of an ally channel rather like one used in some curtain rods. you know the ones you can use a pull rope at one end. curtains can get to be pretty heavy, maybe as heavy as your shutters, and they work for many years without much maintenance.

check out at john lewis, since they generally seem to have the best ones on display.

paul

[lynx]

www.dgsupplyline.co.uk/results.php?category_id=3&PHPSESSID=3929aa7015eba047f23bb59c2b91ad9d

Could you not make something up with these items

[nickw]

The trouble with the normal cabinet/joinery stuff is that it is all designed to take a vertical load. As soon as you go away from there bits rub that didn't oughter, loads go onto bearings in directions they weren't designed for, runners jump off the track etc.. And remember that I'm going all the way to 45 deg (OK, it's only 43.2 deg from vertical but you get the idea).

The designer in me also wants to keep it looking slick, and I do need to keep the overall depth (from the ceiling outward) as low as possible, otherwise I might play with mounting the running gear vertically, and hence at an angle to the shutters and ceiling.

The best option I have found so far is Bosch Rexroth eLine linear bearing kit.

As the newly returned Scrit hasn't posted any options I think I'm going to have to assume that there aren't any.

[Scrit]

nickw said:

As the newly returned Scrit hasn't posted any options I think I'm going to have to assume that there aren't any.

Having mulled this over what about taking part of E1s suggestion - use aluminium channel section - but instead incorporating it with home-made UHMW-PE gliders. UHMW polyethylene machines well using woodworking machinery/power tools and allows the supported item to glide. It would also be possible to make a saddle-shaped glide in UHMW-PE to run on metal rods embedded in the frame. Handling discrepancies in height might prove to be less of a problem this way than using linear guides which are not really suitable for use in wooden frameworks. If you want an example of low-cost UHMW-PE guides in use look at the Pacific Bearings Simplicity page. They are low-cost UHMW-PE linear bearings. I believe that Hepco handle them in the UK

Scrit

[mrgrimsdale]

Er... hang them on parallel curtain rails, top and bottom? Could also incorporate curtain moving strings, mechanisms etc if wanted. Could be concealed with suitable pelmet variations.
Weight handling improved by having more 'travellers' 'sliders' or whatever they are called, plus more supporting brackets on the rails, or heavy duty kit to start with.

cheers
Jacob
NB the rail mechanisms would be hung in the normal vertical mode and the shutters would be hanging vertically from them, in spite of the angle, if you see what I mean.

[mrgrimsdale]

www.stagetrack.co.uk/ for heavy duty options, in fact there's dozens of off the peg solutions if you google about a bit

[nickw]

Thanks Gents. I'll bear those options in mind in case the customers think the Rexroth stuff is too expensive. I have a cunning plan to get round the tolerance problems. More to follow if I'm successful.