Setting up shop from scratch - first project - Plantation Shutters

**ian** · 24th October 2013, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan76

Hi everyone,
First post here, so go easy!

I'm moving into a new place in a about 2 weeks. Having consulted with the Minister in charge of finances, social affairs and handyman job priorities, it appears one of the (many) things on the wish list is Plantation Shutters for the windows to do away with the horrible ~70's era curtains that current adorn them.

Now, I'm pretty much brand new to woodworking, and am under now illusion that Plantation Shutters have been tackled by many, and it turned out the be a heck of a job! However, I currently have boundless enthusiasm, some time to plan both tools and approach and because I don't have $15k - $20k to spend on factory built & installed shutters, I think it will end up happening.

My questions are two fold - firstly, in setting up a brand new shop, with this and other projects in mind ( new window frames for some windows, furniture like coffee tables, tv unit's etc ), I wanted know if my approach was sound - in so much as the tools I'm considering.

I'm looking to buy a Table Saw and am considering the Makita MLT100 as it seems to be reasonably priced, and decent for the money. I'm also looking at getting a Triton TRB001 2000w Router, which will be used primarily in a Table, but may on occasion be used for hand held routing as well ( I'm aware it's a little cumbersome for hand work @ 6kg ).
I'm probably also going to get a Drill press, and would be open to ideas on what might be a good bench mounted Medium duty press. I'm thinking $300 - $500 should get me something decent to start with?

I'll also be getting some hand tools like a drill, a few planes, squares etc etc.

I'll be building my own workbench as well!

At any rate, in regard to Plantation shutters, I'm reading a lot from others around the web that have done this that making/shaping the Louvers is the biggest pain, and considering I'm new, am likely to opt for a jig kit like the ones Rockler have: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=30955 including the router bits to shape the Louvers etc. I think for ~$200 - $250 I could buy all the stuff other than the actual timber, which I'll look to get locally. Haven't decided what timber to use yet. I know Basswood isn't too easy to get around Melbourne, so may need to look at other suitable wood.

I'm going to 'sell' this idea to the 'Minister' with the ROI that the ~$2k spend on setting up a basic workshop + materials needed to build the shutters will easily pay for itself, not to mention all the other stuff I could build over time.

In terms of major pieces of equipment, have I missed anything? For those that have a their shop's kitted out, is there anything you would do if you were doing it all again from scratch?

Seb

Hi Seb

welcome

I'm going to break what you want to do down into a number of tasks

1) you will need a bench or solid table for many of the handyman tasks which will come your way after you move into your new house. Don't discount the time and energy these tasks will consume. But your beginning bench can be relatively inexpensive.

2) to complete the handyman tasks you will likely need

a drill -- if you're persuasive it will be a good battery hammer drill/driver AND a bench or pedestal drill
drill bits
a sander -- again if your powers of persuasion are there it will be two, a ROS and a smaller pad sander for hard to reach areas
a shop vac to "keep the dust from sanding out of the house"
a jig saw
3 or 4 chisels
a hand saw or two
a hand plane or two
stuff to sharpen the chisels and the blade of the hand plane
a selection of spanners, screw drivers, hammers, mallets, squares, rules, marking gauges, etc,

now depending on what quality of tool you buy and the amount of time you are prepared to devote to tuning the tools you do buy, the above list of "essential handyman tools" could easily set you back well over $2000.

Money well spent IMO

have a look at this German website when preparing your bid for consideration by the Minister for Finance http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/productDetail.htm -- the items in the kit represent a good starter set

3) then the big ask -- tools for the shutter project

if you start with rough sawn timber, you will need
- jointer
- thicknesser
- drum sander
- dust collection
- mitre saw
- router
- router table, jigs and router bits
- solid work bench and vices
- disk sander
- table saw
- two or three saw blades
- and possibly a band saw
if you start with ready dimensioned timber, you'll mostly need the
- dust collection
- mitre saw
- router
- router table
- disk sander
- solid work bench

either way you are talking very significant dollars

Perhaps your best option is to buy the shutters in kit form and put them together or if more adventurous buy ready dimensioned timber and make the slats yourself.

your aim here should be getting to the end of the project -- plantation shutters on all windows -- at which point you can point out that if you had had the right gear, you would have "saved" [insert number big enough to justify purchase of the required machines] dollars

Good luck with you negotiations

**Sebastiaan76** · 25th October 2013, 10:18 AM

Great responses.

Hmmm, why do I get the feeling that many before me have had to create business cases to their respective Ministers for Finance to acquire tools hehehe.

Fortunately I come from a Sales background, so should be able to manage quite well.

Having said that, I think the list above may be a bit too big to bite off in one chew. Although it has helped me confirm that for this initial project, I'd likely get the timber prepared by the timber yard so I don't need to do the jointing and thicknessing myself, and can more quickly get on with the 'fun stuff'.

I may also use this opportunity to buy some handtools ( a few Planes etc ) to learn how prepare rough stock without power tools. Not that I'll be able to do large quantities, but I imagine it would be a good learning experience

. After all, there must have been ways to do this before powertools were invented!

I'm also going to build my own workbench and router table. Probably a good way to get acquainted with the tools!

Thanks again everyone. This is a great forum. Very helpful and friendly!

Seb

**Evanism** · 25th October 2013, 12:26 PM

Ian's response sounds and looks like my shed now.

I just wanted to make boxes. Now I even have a giant lathe! Man, am I off track.

Sebastiaan76, you are dead right. It is a negotiation. You will be queried with the following:

- don't you have TWO of those already
- do you REALLY need the $300 one, look, there is one for $25...
- are you looking at Rockler, Amazon, Carbatec again? (on the iPad, in bed, at 2am)
- when are you starting, and correspondingly, when are you going to finish. This is a constant drone. Learn to unlisten.
- can you JUST make me a.....
- why does it take so long? (you are still sharpening the chisels on day 3)

as a sales guy you will need your best elevator pitch and closing pitch I'm afraid. Keep a few spare arguments as there is ALWAYS just-one-more-tool you really really need.

With the shutters I have seen one group in Qld (I think) that sell them as kits. They cut everything to dimension and undercoat, but you have to do all the dog work. From memory, they seemed to be about 1/3rd the price.

With the hand tool route, this is a religious paradox. Everyone loves to use their super sharpened and fettled Japanese hand plane, but go straight to the thicknesser....or use their carefully cultived Lie Neison $350 backsaw, but 98 times in 100 give it a quick zing in the table saw....it's a matter of what you have, time, preference and accuracy.

Don't be stingy on a table saw. It is the workshops absolute workhorse. It will save you a lot of time. You will become obsessed with fences, blades, dust collection and accuracy. A really good table saw is an absolute must.

**Sebastiaan76** · 25th October 2013, 01:32 PM

Is there any reason why - as kind of 'poor mans' jointer & thicknesser I couldn't build a planing-sled for my router to do the thicknessing & face jointing & another jig for the table saw to do edge jointing? That would probably help me get 2 reference faces, which would be square and i could use to get all the other faces done?

been watching a few youtube vids, and while it isn't as quick & easy as dedicated equipment, it would probably work?

Probably not everyone's preference, but one thing i'm learning in woodworking is that there is often more than one way to do things!

**Master Splinter** · 25th October 2013, 06:12 PM

Well, really, you could buy/make a CNC router that would work as a jointer and thicknesser...as well as working as a table saw, jigsaw, router, fret saw, dovetail jig, drill, carving tool...

**Evanism** · 25th October 2013, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan76

Is there any reason why - as kind of 'poor mans' jointer & thicknesser I couldn't build a planing-sled for my router to do the thicknessing & face jointing & another jig for the table saw to do edge jointing? That would probably help me get 2 reference faces, which would be square and i could use to get all the other faces done?

been watching a few youtube vids, and while it isn't as quick & easy as dedicated equipment, it would probably work?

Probably not everyone's preference, but one thing i'm learning in woodworking is that there is often more than one way to do things!

If cost is an issue, go second hand. Most gear is hardly used. A dude called Delbs is selling a ton of gear cheap here on the forums. It will cover off a good chunk of your needs in one swoop. Do a bulk deal with him.

**conwood** · 30th October 2013, 12:54 PM

Hi Seb,
I made mine from scratch 20 + years ago.
They were move-able. This project prompted buying the drill press and a few other tools.
Buy tools as you need them if on a budget.

I made my louvres with cedar and did not paint them. Cos no-one would sell me the pivot pins I made my own from stainless rod hence the drill press.

Quite a lot of work but worth it. The hardest part was working out the overlap to get the frame dimensions.
cheers
conwood

**Arron** · 30th October 2013, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan76

Is there any reason why - as kind of 'poor mans' jointer & thicknesser I couldn't build a planing-sled for my router to do the thicknessing & face jointing & another jig for the table saw to do edge jointing? That would probably help me get 2 reference faces, which would be square and i could use to get all the other faces done?

been watching a few youtube vids, and while it isn't as quick & easy as dedicated equipment, it would probably work?

Probably not everyone's preference, but one thing i'm learning in woodworking is that there is often more than one way to do things!

Yep, you can do that. I recntly sold my jointer because I needed the floorspace, so now I edge-joint on the tablesaw using a plywod follower fixed on with hot-melt glue. You can flatten the faces using a router in a jig - thats how some people flatten slabs. All do-able, but a bit tedious.

**fnven** · 5th November 2013, 05:33 AM

I might be off topic, but would anyone would know where I can find a hidden control arms for shutters here in OZ? Thanks Fred

**Sebastiaan76** · 13th November 2013, 07:35 PM

Thanks for all the responses here! I have been offline for the last few weeks during the move, and am now in the new place AND internet is finally connected ( what an adventure that was! yay Telstra! not!).

The minister of finance & home decorating has put the kybosh on the Plantation shutters as she now isn't sure she likes them after all. So there are many other things that I'll be doing first. Not sure where to start actually, but there is lots! A rotted window sash in the laundry being one thing.

Anyway, I need/want to buy a table saw, and budget is limited to between $500 & $700 which i know isn't much. I'm eyeing off a Bosch GTS 10 J Table Saw Plus Saw Stand GTA600 - I know it's not a Jet or or other 'good' brand saw, and I'm sure the fence etc isn't as good as some, but it's damn sight better than the Makita MLT100 i had a look at ( in terms of fence 'solidness' ).
Anything else this saw is missing I may need to build myself via jigs, bigger table etc, DIY fence etc. All stuff I'm prepared to have a go at.

If anyone had an opinion on this saw, or something better for similar price that would be very valuable.

I'm also keeping an eye out on ebay, gumtree & here for saws in Melbourne, but all the stuff online at the moment is pretty crappy by the looks of it. It's either vintage, 3-phase or Aldi, GMC cheap cheap stuff.

Some projects that have been identified in place of the plantation shutters:

- Double glazed window sashes that I could insert into existing frames - OR new frames + sashes for front windows
- Building internal stud wall for garage store room to then plaster etc and turn into an office ( i work from home a few days a week )
- building wardrobe(s) / cupboards for bedrooms ( material not chosen yet - possibly melamine/laminate, MDF or other )
- Furniture such as TV unit, bedside cabinets, tallboys for kids rooms.
- back gate

the list is probably endless!

it sure is good to be back online!

Seb

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