Plantation Shutters, New Yankee Workshop DVD

Custom Plantation Shutters ordinarily cost a fortune, but Norm shows you how to make your own for an inexpensive price. He begins by building a selection of jigs for drilling holes, setting staples and mortising hinges. After machining the Basswood slats, he mounts them on a control rod and frames the assembly with poplar. The completed shutters are then painted and installed, resulting in smooth operation and a truly impressive appearance. Includes measured shop drawings.

Customer Reviews and Photos for: Plantation Shutters, New Yankee Workshop DVD Average Rating: (2.7) (6 customer reviews) Add your review...

1) Submitted by Craig, from San Diego, CA on 10/20/2009 Customer Rating: It was helpful information. I was able to buy the louver material so I did not have to order special planner blades.

2) Submitted by Steve Lee, from Bartlesville, OKLAHOMA on 2/8/2009 Customer Rating: The biggest obstacle in this project is the jigs for the stapling of the slats and the slats to the control bar. Norm's drawing of his jigs where a little bit obscure to understand. I had to play with different setups of my own design until I found the right combination. Once I got them working, I could crank out a pair of shutters in three days. My first set was the "learning" ... now I understand why Norm does a "prototype" for each project. The downside of the plans was finding someone to manufacture my custom knives for my planer/moulder. Once I located a manufacturer and sent them the drawing, they had the knives back to me a a relatively short amount of time.

3) Submitted by Scott from GA on 4/24/2008 Customer Rating: The easy way around not having a molding machine is to make your own slats. When I made mine I just cut 3/8 thick wood to length and then ran the edges through a 1/4 round over bit on both faces and sides. They essentially look like the ones Norn made and work the same way.

4) Submitted by Keith Dearden, from Hamilton, GA on 11/20/2008 Customer Rating: The dvd is good as far as it goes. I used a set of router bits that let me taper the slats virtually the same way as Norm did with the molder. However, I used 1/2' slats instead of 3/8". The problem I have is with the jig for attaching the slats to the control rod. Could not get the thing to work consistently and spoiled several slats before I gave it up. Also, Norm used a PC pneumatic stapler to connect the slats to the control rod. The stapler would not fire with this jig as it has a safety on the nose that has to be pushed down onto the surface. The jig did not allow for that. There is no explanation in either the dvd or the plans on how to overcome this. However, the rest of the jigs worked fine.

5) Submitted by Bob Morris, from Myrtle Beach, SC on 3/28/2008 Customer Rating: This would be an easy project if you have unlimited funds. I was unaware to cut the slats a special cutter was ordered by Norm. I'm trying to determine if there is a way to cut them on a table saw or router table.

6) Submitted by Jeff Brown, from Safford, AZ on 4/21/2008 Customer Rating: I viewed the DVD and found every step do-able, and easy to follow. Easy to do until Norm got to the Molding machine and stated that he sent his specs to the company and they manufactured a special cutter head to do the job of milling the slats. First of all, how many shops have a molding machine? Second, who in their right mind is going to demonstrate to the entire audience the 'only' way to complete this project is to contact a company and talk them into designing a cutter head specific to a job? Basically the DVD is worthless without a way to complete the slats. The DVD might as well have shown me the proper way to BBQ chicken, even though I didn't ask for a method to cook the bird, I would have gotten more out of it. Please redeem yourselves and show me a way out.